


The Grey Queen

by Lorelai_of_mexx



Series: Queen of the Grey [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Ben Solo Has Issues, F/M, Force Healing, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jealousy, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reconciliation, Rey Needs A Hug, Slavery, Vaginal Sex, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:35:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 72,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorelai_of_mexx/pseuds/Lorelai_of_mexx
Summary: This is the continuation of... Be my Queen...( https://archiveofourown.org/works/24983935/chapters/60487255 )Rey and Ben are off to visit Grey Alliance allies.They face new challenges and new enemies.But they find support from new and old friends.Ben still has to face his past and Rey is plagued by power-sapping visions.They must learn to find their strength and defeat their inner demons... Only then they can bring peace and freedom to the galaxy... together.Translated from German with DeepL
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Queen of the Grey [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843420
Comments: 29
Kudos: 33





	1. Xervos

Three months our future rulers have been on their way.  
But the next planet they land on, Xervos, seems to make Ben nervous for some reason.

_Child's laugh... ...sunlight... Rey lies in a meadow, on a gentle hill... There is a child laughing._

_She rises and looks around. A little boy with pitch-black hair runs past her and laughs wildly.  
He runs towards a small round droid._

_BB8?_

_He's playing with the little astro droid...  
For a while she watches him run after his little friend and tries to catch him._

_Such a pretty picture... it almost tears her heart apart..._

_Then the boy crouches down and picks something up off the ground... it's a little purple flower...  
He puts it flat on his hand and looks at it closely._

_There's something familiar about his face... She's seen it before somewhere..._

_Amazed she watches how the flower in his palm slowly starts to turn and eventually rises like a propeller... towards Rey until the flower lands on her head._

_The little boy giggles and looks at her with a joyful smile. "A present for you, Mama...!"_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to the quarters opens with a hiss. Rey wakes up with a fright. Was this a dream?

"Did you get some sleep?" it comes from the door.  
Sairah... her Twi'lek servant and best friend stands before her and looks at her with concern. Rey lies on her bed, in her quarters, in the spaceship with which they have been travelling from planet to planet for a good three months.

She sleepily rubs her eyes, sits down on the edge of the bed and stretches herself a little.  
"Like a stone!" she lies. In truth, she probably only got a few minutes' sleep.

"Oh really?!" Sairah doesn't seem to believe her completely. She sits down next to Rey and pulls her face towards her.  
"Yes! I even dreamed it wasn't a nightmare!" she says truthfully.  
"And what did you dream about?" the young Twi'lek asks suspiciously.

"That..." Rey reflects... the dream... the little boy with the pitch-black hair... who called her Mama...  
"I can't remember exactly, but I think I was happy."  
"That's a beginning..." Sairah says encouragingly, gets up and goes to the dining table.

"You should eat something before we get to the next planet!" Rey rolls her eyes behind her back.  
Sairah has become very adamant on the subject of food... and sleep... actually, she has become adamant on many things.

Rey gets up with a soft sigh and straightens her dress.  
Yes!  
When it comes to clothing, she has become the most rigid. She chooses Rey's wardrobe.  
In most cases, Rey is also grateful to her because she could rarely guess which dress she should wear on which planet for which state visit or occasion.

Even though it goes completely against the grain for her to be so patronized by her. But still she is incredibly grateful for her company. Otherwise she would be alone far too often.

Silently she sits down at the table with her and starts to eat her breakfast. Bread, some fruit and water.

"Where is he now?" Rey asks into the silence at some point.  
"He is on the command bridge, going over everything three times... I think he's nervous..."  
Rey looks up irritated. _Why would he be nervous?_  
"What's wrong?"  
Sairah puts her glass down, from which she has just had a drink.  
"I honestly have no idea, but... there are rumours..." she finally admits.  
"What kind of rumors?" Rey asks amused.  
"Well... the king of the planet Xervos... his name is Danton Bravooh... he's supposed to have always been neutral when it came to the First Order and the new Republic. Probably never really took sides but... Supposedly..." she's quieter now.  
"...he was supposedly willing to side with the First Order just before the Starkiller base happened..."  
"Then he must have been an ally of Ben...?!" Rey concludes and can't quite figure out what she's saying.  
"That's what I'm thinking too, but..." at that moment the door opens hissing again.

A joyful smile forms in Rey's face. Ben stands before them. Sairah, who is no longer noticed by anyone, briefly puts her hand on Rey's, says goodbye and leaves the room.  
As she passes Ben she makes a short curtsey.

As soon as the door closes, he walks towards his fiancée and sits down on a chair next to her. As he reaches out to touch her face he flinches briefly and takes off his leather glove. He had gotten into the habit of taking off his gloves when he wanted to touch her.

His hand feels warm on her cheek. She nestles her face in it and closes her eyes.  
As she feels him gently slide his thumb under her eye, she opens it again and looks into his worried face.

"Did you have a nice dream?" he suddenly asks. She blushes immediately.  
"Did you see him?" she asks cautiously and means the boy.  
"No? But you slept for a moment and... and for a moment... You were happy for a moment." He means the dream he didn't live through.

But he could feel what she was feeling during it.  
Apparently, he didn't hear the _him._  
"What were you dreaming about?" he now asks curiously.  
"I don't know exactly ...," she admits.  
"Then tell me what else you know." he suggests.

She takes his hand off her face and puts it in hers.  
"Why are you so upset?" she asks instead. He raises an eyebrow.  
"Why should I be upset?"  
"I don't know... that's why I'm asking." he's definitely nervous.  
She can feel his agitation.

"What's on Xervos?" she asks when he doesn't speak. Now he looks worried.  
"Danton Bravooh is a former supporter of the Rebel Alliance He, like many others, will not be satisfied with me."  
"Then why were there rumors of his desire to join the First Order?" she asks outright.

"Sairah has her ears everywhere..." he says quietly and turns his head away.  
"Ben!" she pleads with him and pulls his face back towards her.  
"Whatever it is that's bothering you... together we can do it!" she whispers encouragingly and puts her lips on his.

At first he doesn't seem to want to return the kiss, but then he suddenly pulls her onto his lap and presses her firmly against him.  
There is something desperate about his reply. As if he is afraid of losing her.

But before she can break away from him to ask him what he has, the door opens again and a storm trooper tells them that they will arrive at Xervos any moment.

"Come on!" he pushes her up and pulls her by the hand to the door. Shortly after they have left the quarters she stops and wants to withdraw her hand from him.  
"Ben I can go alone without you holding my hand!" she says angrily. "Oh... oh yes." he just replies, kissing her knuckles and letting go of her hand.  
"I keep forgetting you don't like that... only I don't quite understand why..." he says and puts one hand on her back.  
"I just don't like it!" she says snottily.

They can see the planet from the command shuttle. A huge blue-green sphere with some brown spots.

"We've been cleared for landing!" says a woman at one of the control panels.  
With every second Rey can feel his anxiety more acutely and then... like a black dot in her field of vision... she can sense that disaster is upon them. She suddenly has the vague feeling that something is ahead of them that will test them. She's had it on other planets. Whenever they visited a system ruled by first order sympathizers. But this time the feeling is stronger... much stronger.

Sairah, the one standing next to her notices her tension and wordlessly takes her hand. Rey sees her hands first and then looks at her. She didn't even look into her eyes, she just felt it... Rey slowly gets the feeling that her dear friend might be force-sensitive. It's not necessarily so she can control the force... but she can sense things that others can't.

After landing, they slowly walk down the ramp and are already greeted by a young man in a blue parade uniform and gray cape.  
As they stand in front of him, he bows deeply to them once.

"Greetings! My name is Leados Bravooh... I have been instructed to bring you to my father."

Like the choir, they both answer: "It is our pleasure!"

Leados, who until now hasn't moved at all, can't help but shrug off a slight twitch of the corners of his mouth.  
He instructs them to follow him.

On the way over the landing place to the palace, which is made of grey stone, they cross a small creek over a bridge. Colourful waterfowl swim in the water and a little further on you can see people bathing. The climate is very mild and they are also a bit warm. The palace is surrounded by high columns that provide pleasant shade.

As they walk past one of the columns Rey feels the dark aura again.

"Well, well, well...!" Behind one of the columns, a beautiful young woman appears.  
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other. Kylo Ren!"  
Rey looks up at him. There he is... the reason for his agitation... he knows her. And he is not pleased to see her.

"Pharsie!"


	2. Pharsie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Come and meet Pharsie. Princess of Xervos.  
> She's sexy, evil and a manipulative top bitch.
> 
> What else! XD

For a moment, the four of them stop in the round.   
Leados and Rey look back and forth between Ben and Pharsie for a few moments. Both look at each other only with unfathomable expressions.

"I have already heard ...," Leados begins.   
"...that you are already acquainted with my sister Princess Pharsie." he says to Ben.  
He continues to look at the princess with caution.

Rey slowly feels uncomfortable and now looks at Pharsie more closely.  
Her skin looks almost silky. She has long, light-browed hair that she wears openly. She has light blue eyes and wears a very revealing dress, which shows off her good figure and her charms openly.   
But what worries Rey most is the dark aura she radiates. For her, Princess Pharsie is a person to be watched out for.

"How do you do?" says Rey and suddenly offers her a hand. Pharsie now looks at her with her piercing ice eyes and her gaze betrays the deep disgust she feels for Rey. She is about a head taller than Rey and seems to look down on her from a great height. But her hand does not grasp her. She just looks at her... no, it pierces her with its whiteness. And Rey looks back stubbornly.

Ben had already admired her dignified stubbornness some time ago.   
When they visited the first systems that were loyal to the First Order, Sairah had advised her to keep her head down and run after Ben. But when she stood in front of the dignitaries and should have made herself small, she held her head upright. This had already earned her one or two admirers. (What was bothering Ben... she belongs with him!)  
She just didn't understand why she should keep herself small when she should be able to control the systems.   
She wouldn't let herself be so easily brought down by anyone... not even Ben.

He now looks nervously at both women, who still stare at each other like in a duel.

"Now that's enough! Pharsie! I'm supposed to take them to Father... Come now!" he says impatiently and grabs his sister by the arm. They both look at him at the same time and follow him wordlessly.

On the way to the throne room Ben tries to grab Rey's hand, but she keeps withdrawing it from him. (Which fortunately only Sairah can see behind them.)

"Ahhh... our future royal couple! What a joy." 

King Danton Bravooh is a tall, aging man with a big belly and a big bushy moustache.

"My dear father..." Pharsie warbles, reaches out to the King and gives him a tender kiss on the cheek.  
"This is our future king, Kylo Ren and his soon-to-be bride...uh...what was the name again?" her voice is sugar sweet, but still she cannot hide her disgust.

"...and _our_ future Queen Rey!" Prince Leados corrects her.   
Rey likes the way he emphasizes _our_.   
She's starting to like him.   
She smiles at him briefly, then looks at King Danton and greets him correctly.   
"It is a great pleasure to meet you. We hope we'll work well together."

"Indeed, I have already heard from you, my dear. Of your legendary battle with the Princess of De'ostress. You must be a skilled fighter." 

Rey can't help but blush. De'ostress... she associates this planet with a particularly... intense memory that has absolutely nothing to do with her battle with Lady Shi'va (the princess there).  
"She has been well trained." Ben intervenes and rescues her from this memory.

The King looks at Ben in admiration for a moment.   
"Fine, fine!" and then gives the order to show them their quarters. In the evening they would dine together, there they could talk further about their travels and plans.  
But before they can turn around, Pharsie calls out in between: "Your Twi'lek... she can sleep with the servants... the guards will take her there and... take... good... care of her!" 

**"She stays with me!"** Rey replies in a firm voice. Pharsie looks at her in horror until a dangerous smile steals onto her face.   
"As you wish."   
The tone of the princess's voice does not please her at all and makes Rey very nervous. She must be very carefull.

"Sairah!" she whispers later on the way to the shelters.  
"Yes?!" she whispers back in a frightened voice.   
There are guards everywhere, looking at her with a look that seems to make her very nervous.  
"Please stay close to me at all times!" she orders her.  
"Yes! Gladly!" she returns frightened.

One of the servants takes her to her rooms. It is a luxurious apartment with a central living area, two bedrooms and a comfortable bathroom.

As soon as the servant has informed them that Prince Leados is expecting them in the gardens for tea in two hours, they say goodbye and leave the premises.

Ben gives Sairah the order to leave them alone and moves Rey into one of the bedrooms.  
Once there she tears herself away from him and looks at him angrily.

"You know her?" Her voice is a little louder than he likes.  
"I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't sure if..."  
"She remembers you?!" She interrupts him.  
"Rey! Would you please calm down?!" 

If there's one thing men need to learn... it's that the phrase "Would you please calm down?!" and any other form that carries that meaning... does anything to a woman... except calm her down! (Like throwing a Mentos into a Coke bottle...XD)

**"Like hell I will! Why didn't you tell me about her before?"** now she's really screaming.  
But what you gotta give Ben credit for is that he can always take her tantrums calmly. He gets quiet instantly and makes her rant.

She yells at him for a few more minutes, accusing him of having already warned her on the ship and of lying to her when she asked why he was so restless. Also that this woman is an incredibly impertinent person, that she radiates a really dark aura and that she really can't stand her... 

In time, whatever happens when she has a tantrum... he starts to grin and she gets so angry for a moment that she wants to hit him with her baton... she'd have to make a new one.

As soon as she has calmed down (meaning she has finished screeching and has taken a deep breath) he pulls her into his arms at her wrist and before she can protest he closes her mouth with a very passionate kiss. She answers him immediately, but interrupts him after a short while, detaches herself from him and gives him a juicy slap. For a moment he is shocked, but he quickly recovers and can intercept the second one. 

She always wants to strike twice, but so far the first strike was never surprising enough that he could not foresee the second one. 

Before she can give him a second with her other hand, he holds her wrist and presses her against the next wall.   
"Let go of me!" she says angrily. He pushes her against it with his whole body and presses a knee between her legs. She turns red and stares at him even more angrily. But he waits patiently.

"Good...! I give up... let go of me!" she says more calmly after a while. He releases her again, sits down on the bed which is behind him and pulls her sideways onto his lap.  
For a while she remains silent and Rey has to admit to herself inwardly that he cushions her tantrums well every time. However, she would never admit this to him.

"Tell me what happened to this pharsie!" she now asks him calmly.  
"Actually, nothing happened... Snoke asked me to bring the Xervos system under first order control. I was to bring Bravooh's daughter on our side."

"Pharsie!" Rey notes with some annoyance.

"I had met with her a few times. We talked about what First Order protection could offer her planet and what she could achieve under Snoke... I met with her a little..." now he turns his head to the side in embarrassment.   
„... you'd think that I've cajoled her a little..." 

"You were flirting with her!" Rey dryly notes.

Carefully, he looks at her from the side. Rey now also looks away from him and takes a deep breath. He gently kisses her on the temple.  
"She means nothing to me," he says very quietly.

"Then why was Bravooh not on your side?" she asks and looks at him again.  
"Well," he starts slowly and looks at her with a smile.   
"I've been recalled... Because there was a rumor that on an unimposing little desert planet there was a part of the map to Luke Skywalker... However, a small astro droid was able to bring the map part to safety together with a deserted storm trooper... with the help of a girl..."

Rey still looks at him seriously, but doesn't say a word yet.  
"Watch out for her, please! As far as I know, the King lets her get away with almost anything..." he whispers to her again.   
"She is evil." she says sadly.  
"Yes... but she is the princess here. Don't try to fall for her provocations!" 

Now she looks at him questioningly with her eyebrows drawn back.  
"You can easily go off your skin." he says amusedly. At which she looks at him angrily with her head bowed and her pout. So cute!

He gives her a gentle kiss on the forehead and her features straighten up. Now she puts her tired head against his shoulder and closes her eyes. She inhales his scent. It calms her immensely. Instantly she gets tired and with a last kiss on his chin and the muttered words: "You belong only to me!" she falls asleep on his lap.

He enjoys the moment when he can simply hold his princess in his arms. Carefully he loosens the clip that holds her hair and lets it fall over her shoulder. It has become a little longer over time. He likes it when she wears her hair open but Sairah insists on a high hairstyle every time. When some hair falls into her face, he pushes it carefully behind her ear. She gives a soft sigh.

Smiling he has to think back...

_During the first few nights that they were to sleep separately, she hardly slept a wink. Every day she seemed more and more weak. He had reproached himself severely because they would have to learn in the future as well, without sleeping together and this was a good opportunity to learn again. But he had not counted on Rey's stubbornness. After a week he had even asked Sairah to stay with her during the night, although this would not be a solution in the long run. But even that would not help, as he had to find out the same night._

_He had hardly been able to sleep either and that night he just lay there staring at the ceiling again. Until he heard a soft noise. With a fright he straightened up and wanted to reach for his lightsaber, but he paused in his movement... and stared at his fiancée, who stared at him with big eyes from the door._

_No one said a word, they just looked at each other. She was only wearing a white light nightgown that went down to her knees and in which she looked, to him, like an angel._

_He knew he couldn't send her away so he didn't give a damn about the rules. With an inviting gesture, he raised his blanket with one hand and offered her to come to him. She came running towards him and crawled under the blanket. Without another word she cuddled up to him and let him take her firmly in his arms._

_With tender kisses on the hair he greeted her._  
"But you'll have to sneak back into your room tomorrow morning!" he whispered calmly to her.   
"I don't care!" she just replied and fell asleep the next moment. He too could sleep peacefully at night again, and even though he had to wake her up early every morning to take her back to her room, she would sneak into bed with him every night from then on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank every faithful reader and i am happy about every comment.
> 
> Have a nice Friday and see you tomorrow.  
> Your Lori ❤


	3. Knock Knock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey gets to know Leados a little closer and is warned by him.

Ben must have nodded away briefly as well. Slightly bruised he notices that the door has opened behind them.   
When he turns around, he sees Sairah carefully sticking her head inside.

"You two must be off. Prince Leados is expecting you for tea."  
"Thank you. We'll be right there." he shoos her off and waits until she has closed the door behind her again.

Rey is still sitting on his lap and sleeping on his shoulder. He doesn't like to do it but he has to wake her up. He gently strokes her cheek with his fingertips. She moves her head a little and gives a soft sigh.

"Come on!" he says softly.   
"Come my girl! We must meet Prince Leados."  
"Uuhhmm!" she exposes.  
"You can sleep with me again tonight, but you must get up now...! Or else I'm gonna lock my door tonight." he threatens her jokingly.  
She smiles with her eyes closed.   
"As if you were going to leave me at your door..."

With her eyes still closed, she puts her head back and makes a slight annoyance.  
"Can you explain why my hair is down again?"  
"I'm sorry."

Moaning, she gets up from him and walks to a mirror. With a few moves she twists her hair back so that it's tied in a knot.  
"Where is the clip?" she asks and holds out a hand to him.   
He puts the clip, which he had previously pulled out of her hair, on the palm of her hand and watches amusedly as she ties the knot with it.

"I like you better with your hair open." he says, lost in thought, as he stands behind her and looks at her through the mirror.  
"You're welcome to check it with Sairah." she counters, turn around and gives him a kiss on the cheek. 

Amused, she remembers that a few months ago she asked him to let her beard grow. She had put up with it for three weeks and then begged him to undo it. It looked really good on him, but when he kissed her it scratched her so unpleasantly. She had watched him and apologized again and again while he was shaving.

Gently she moved her hand over his cheek and up to his chin.   
Yes! She likes it better that way. 

On the way to the gardens he tries to grab her hand every now and then, which she keeps taking away from him.   
It has become a little game between them.   
Rey has made it very clear at some point that she absolutely can't stand it when someone holds her hand and Ben therefore makes fun of grabbing her again and again and smiles at her angry expression.   
After a while she has to laugh about his annoying persistence as usual. And so they walk with Sairah in tow, jokingly to the gardens.

It is an enchanting sight. Small paths lined with pretty flowerbeds covered with colourful flowers. Everywhere butterflies with colourful wings fly over the bushes. Every now and then there are small trees in the flowerbeds, in which many birds are chirping their beautiful songs.

On one of the paths Prince Leados comes towards them. He has already taken off his cape and gives Rey his hand. She grabs it and lets him give her a kiss on the hand. Another thing she detests deeply. But Rey smiles bravely.

"It's my pleasure!" the Prince begins.  
"I hope your premises meet with your approval."  
"Everything is excellent." she replies friendly.  
"Then I hope you will also enjoy our gardens, allow me to show you around!" he says to everyone.

Ben and Rey nod and Leados hands her his arm. A nasty little thought comes to her. Exuberantly thanking Rey accepts his arm and lets him lead her. Sairah and Ben follow them silently.

In the garden there are all kinds of flowers from different parts of the galaxy. You can see that the prince is very proud of the garden and that it is dear to him.

"Do you like it?" Leados asks one day.  
"It is beautiful... it reminds me a little of Chandrila."  
"Oh!" he says admiringly.   
"There's a reason for that... Some of the gardeners are from Chandrila. So you've been there already?"  
"Yes, it's a beautiful planet. And..." she turns briefly to the back where Ben and Sairah follow at some distance.   
"...Ben was born there."   
For a moment he too looks in its direction.

"Where are you from, Princess?"  
"I grew up on Jakku."  
"This is a desert planet, if I'm not mistaken..."  
"You're not wrong!" she confirms.  
"I don't suppose there are many green places like this?"  
"Hardly at all."  
"I don't suppose there's any blue?"  
"No!"

"Have you ever seen the sea?" he asks interested.  
"Yes, I've seen a few seas in my travels." She says smiling.  
"I liked the sea on Corellia best."

For a moment she has to think back to when they crossed the sea on a sailboat-like glider. She enjoyed that feeling of freedom very much. From Corellia come some of the bravest explorers and adventurers... ...including Han Solo.

Slightly saddened, she looks to the side. Prince Leados, watching her closely, seems to notice her change of mood.  
"But no sea in the universe can be as beautiful as the lakes of Naboo!"   
Rey listens up.  
"Have you ever been to Naboo Princess?"   
She shakes her head slightly. She has been wishing to visit this planet for some time.  
"You should do so. It's an enchanted place. Not only the lakes, but the cities are beautiful. But above all the lake country. It is a far away beautiful place. With beautiful crystal clear waters and lush meadows on gentle hills on which beautiful flowers grow, like the purple Kleeos blossoms for example..." 

Suddenly Rey stops.   
_Gentle green hills... Purple flowers?!_  
"What is it?" Leados asks in surprise.  
"What are Kleeos blossoms?" she asks curiously.  
"Oh... I think..." he starts and looks around a little.   
"...they must be here somewhere...oh yes, exactly!" he says and goes to a nearby flowerbed. Carefully he picks a small purple flower and holds it in front of Rey.   
This one must hold back her surprise.  
"They are very pretty." she just says. He approaches her and puts it in her hair.   
"And now you ennoble her!"   
Rey blushes slightly, but keeps looking at him.

After a short while, Leados turns to the side again and looks into the distance.  
"My father admires you for fighting the Princess of De'ostress."   
Now Rey is turning really red.  
"But I am sure that is not your only strength..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well...," he says, turning briefly to Ben and Sairah who are standing at some distance from them and looking in different directions. Then he looks back at Rey.  
"You have a very special sensuousness!"  
"That would be the last word I would use to describe myself."  
Shaking her head, she turns away from him and looks at the little Kleeos blossoms in the flowerbeds.  
"You're too modest! I admire your grace and you should be aware of that."

Rey looks directly at him again and finds that this compliment does not make her blush with shame. She decides that she likes Prince Leados very much... even though he's wrong about her.

"I also find your company very pleasant... unlike other women here on Xervos."  
"Why?" she asks with interest.  
"You are far gentler than Xervos ladies... not so aggressive!" Rey must smile.  
 _Gentle..._  
Another word she wouldn't use to describe herself.

Then the look of the prince changes again. He looks back at Ben and Sairah.  
"You are a Jedi..." he turns back to her.   
"... am I seeing this right?"  
"Well... why?" she asks irritated.  
"You... and your servant as well, should be beware of the men here on Xervos! They too can be... aggressive... especially when it comes to women..."   
He looks up briefly and then quickly says: "Trust your feelings!"  
Rey pulls her eyebrows together. This warning seems very serious to her.

"Brother?!" warbles it behind her. Leados seems to have seen her coming.  
Pharsie joins them and Rey immediately feels her stiffening in their presence.  
She is accompanied by two guards. 

"What did you talk about?" she asks her brother. He looks at her with a smile on his face and answers in a honeyed voice: "About the beauty of Naboo."

Pharsie turns up her nose in disgust. "Oooh! Isn't that the planet with those... disgusting swamp people... the Gungans... And you call this one beautiful?"   
She smiles and looks at Rey from the side.  
"But when the princess gets excited..." with a smug smile, she walks right past them. As she passes Ben, she can't help but run her hand over his upper arm. The latter only looks to the side with an expressionless expression.

Leados, who, like Rey, watched his sister leave, only says, "Please forgive my sister's undiplomatic language."  
"No problem." Rey replies dryly.  
Leados now looks at her again.  
"Now you know what I mean by aggressive." he says with a smile.   
Rey can't help it. She has to smile back. Prince Leados is a very charming and friendly man, who seems to put everyone in his good mood... and he is totally gay... she really likes him.

"Shall we? Tea is served in the pavilion, and I'm sure there's a delicious tea made from Kleeos flowers."   
Smiling friendly she grabs his arm again and is led to the pavilion.

After the tea Ben and Rey are back in his room. He immediately opens her hair again, then goes to the bed, puts his lightsaber down on the small table next to it and takes off his coat and vest. Rey watches as he sits down on the bed and, breathing heavily, lets himself fall backwards.

"Say..." she begins after a while.  
"Hmm!"  
"Aren't you jealous at all?" she asks curiously.

Ever since they had entered the garden, Rey had the thought that she could try to annoy Ben with Prince Leados.   
But to her own annoyance, Ben doesn't seem to jump at it at all.

He now looks at her closely from the bed. He seems to have to choose his words carefully.

"Rey... please come to me?!" he says and rises again. She steps to him and lets herself be pulled back onto his lap. He takes a deep breath and begins: "I'm really not worried about prince..."  
"You know?!" she says angrily.  
"What, that he's gay like ten Chantrilan hairdressers? Yes!"  
"How do you know this again?" she asks annoyed.

"Well...," he begins in a silky voice and runs a finger down her neck to her collarbone.   
"...he's the first man who doesn't stare down your neckline in this dress."   
As he says this, his finger wanders down her cleavage and pauses for a moment between her breasts.  
"That sounds..." but she can't go on, her concentration is on something else. Namely the hand on her back that is just starting to undo the buttons on her dress.

His finger is already moving again. Slowly they moves under the fabric of her dress and gently touches her nipple. After that she twitches.  
"I still can't believe that you are ticklish at that spot..." he says in a deep and amused voice.  
"But I do...!"   
She bites her lower lip as he slowly slides his whole hand under her dress. But suddenly he moves her to her face and uses his thumb to pull her lower lip between her teeth.  
"Please don't do that," he says in a husky voice.  
"I can do it much better," he whispers and presses his lips against hers.

She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls herself closer to him. Now he unbuttons the buttons on her dress with both hands. As soon as he has them all open, he pulls it off her shoulders, detaches himself from her and pulls it down to her stomach.

He then lays her on the bed and leans over her. When he kisses her again, he starts to take off his shirt and she opens the buttons on his pants with excited, shaky fingers. He throws the shirt on the floor behind him and pushes her further onto the bed so that she is now lying across it.

Her hands, which were already starting to pull down his pants, he puts over her head and pepper her breasts with light kisses. Again and again he brushes his tongue over her sensitive nipples, causing her to giggle every time. With one hand he pulls her dress up so that her legs are exposed. 

Then he moves his hand between her legs and slides two fingers under her panties. As he slides between her lower lip and feels her wetness, she moans briefly.   
"You're more than ready!" he states and pulls apart the small piece of cloth that used to be her panties.

She pulls his face towards her and kisses him wildly. But he separates from her again and slides down between her legs. When he wants to start caressing her with his tongue she pulls him up again roughly by his hair.

"Ouch!" he complains.  
"Ben... please!" she says breathlessly.   
She doesn't need his head between her legs now! She needs him inside her.   
It's been weeks since they've been together like this, and she's impatient. 

He surrenders and pulls his dick out of his pants.   
As soon as he's above her and he's in position at her cunt, she puts her legs around his waist to push him towards her... 

"Knock, knock, knock!

They stop moving and look at the door...

"Um... we need to be in the dining room in half an hour and... and I guess Rey's gonna have to change into a wrinkle-free dress. So could you please stop?!" it comes in an embarrassed voice from outside.

Ben puts his head on Rey's chest with an angry snort.   
"She's coming!" he yells angrily to the door and throws himself on his back next to her.

"I guess not..." says Rey in frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a nice weekend.   
> Stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	4. WTF

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pharsie plays her game and causes immense damage.

Dinner was like running the gauntlet. On the one hand, the King and the Prince were extremely polite to them and promised glorious times under the Grey Alliance...   
On the other hand, Pharsie kept dropping spiteful spikes against Rey.   
Over her beautiful dress... it was so chaste...   
Her hair so short... but she could barely stile her hair...   
Or about her pale complexion... where that comes from, if she didn't see enough sunshine as a scavenger on Jakku...

Rey has never been ashamed of her heritage... why should she be? But around Pharsie, she actually felt inferior. She was beginning to wonder if that was also a form of manipulating force.

Ben's presence was the only thing that kept her going... as long as he didn't touch her.   
For despite his comforting closeness, she became ill-tempered and frustrated with every touch he gave her.   
She was deeply annoyed that they could not finish their afternoon's lovemaking. This was the first time she did not pay any attention to Sairah and she seemed to be ashamed as well.   
Even Ben showed her the evening over the cold shoulder.

Maybe Rey's mood would improve again if the couple could make up for what they had started that night.

After dinner, they were taken to a large drawing room.   
They are seated in low chairs and are offered alcoholic beverages.   
After the King clapped his hands twice, a large door opened and about a dozen Twi'lek girls entered the room and stood in position. They all have blue skin and are dressed very revealingly. Then another Twi'lek comes in. She has a beautiful pale purple complexion and is wearing an elegant black dress, with a low neckline and a slit in her skirt showing one of her legs.

"We've taken the liberty of arranging a little entertainment for you... a little gesture from my dear Pharsie" King whispers to Ben. With a glance to the side, Rey can immediately see Sairah's tension. After another look at Pharsie, who looks at the young Twi'lek with a bitterly evil smile... Rey knows why she has arranged such a conversation.

The singer sings on Twi'leki and the dancers move to it in beautiful rhythmic poses.   
(In this scene I imagined the song Dance Monkey by Tones an I. ^.-)

Some movements seem very obscene to Rey and after a while she can see pale marks on the backs of some of the dancers. It seems that these girls are slaves. 

Also Sairah seems to notice this, because as soon as Rey turns her head to the side and looks at her, she can see tears in her eyes.

Before Ben freed her she had to dance for her former master... and worse... as she once said...  
carefully, rey grabs her hand and squeezes it briefly. Sairah does not look at her but nods briefly.

After the performance is over, Rey wants to retreat with Sairah looking to the side,  
"No, wait a minute!" says Prince Leaods.  
"I'd like to show you and your servant something else, if you'll allow me." He addresses his last words to Ben.  
He nods briefly.

"If you would kindly follow me..."  
He leads Rey and Sairah out of the parlour and down a few corridors. Then they climb a high spiral staircase.   
When they reach the top, they find themselves under a high dome.

"This was my mother's favorite place in the evenings... ...before she died."   
Slowly, he goes to one of the walls and flips a switch. The dome opens and a huge starry sky appears.

"Unfortunately, my mother was always too weak for interstellar travel, so my father had this built for her, so she could be close to the stars here. He also had the garden laid out just for her. She died when my sister was three years old.

"I'm very sorry." Rey says carefully, lightly touching his arm.

"She was kindness itself and my father adored her. By the end of the day, she was only in the garden for days on end and in the evening, she was carried up here so she could look at the stars."

Despite the dome being open, it is very dark, but Rey thinks she can see a small tear stealing from Leado's cheek.  
She too is now looking up at the stars. It is breathtaking. You can't even see the stars that beautiful when you fly past them.

"I am very sorry for my sister's behavior toward you... Miss...?"  
"Sairah... My Lord," replies the girl.  
"Lady Sairah!" Corrects Rey.  
"Were those slaves before?" she asks straight out.  
"No... no more... but her situation has not improved." Leados sadly admits.  
"When I one day take the throne, I will not tolerate such things anymore!" he says in a firm voice.  
Sairah looks at him admiringly.  
"I thank you." says Rey softly as she still stares at the stars.

After Ben had talked to the King for a while about planned trade routes and other things he told him about a ball the next evening. He had plans to introduce him and his future queen to the dignitaries of Xervos. Slightly frustrated Ben said goodbye to him and left the salon.

On the way past the gardens he hears footsteps behind him that are getting faster and faster.  
"Please wait a moment... Kylo!"

Ben turns around with an annoyed look.  
"That's Ben now!"  
"Oh yes, I forgot!" Pharsie looks at him with big eyes and stands directly in front of him. She's still wearing that very provocative dress.

"I was very hurt that you left so quickly in those days."  
 _Oh shit!_ he thinks to himself.  
"Listen Pharise..."  
"I don't want to reproach you but... if you tell me you love her... your little junkie..."  
"Pharsie!" he interrupts her louder.

"I'm sorry, but you made me unspoken promises, and then you show up here with this little brat and present her as your queen..." she hits him.  
"I'm sorry if you misinterpreted my intentions back then but..."   
That seems to have stung her, because she shrugs at his words.

"I don't want your apology... I just want to know if you love her."  
Ben is suspicious, but he can grant her that wish.  
"Yes, I love her... she's my other half!"

Pharsie looks down at her words. In the distance a slamming door can be heard and she slowly lifts her head again. With a melancholic smile she looks at him.  
"That reassures me!"

He had not expected the following. Pharsie takes another step towards him, stands on her toes and kisses him.   
Only briefly but he can sense that it will have devastating consequences.

With a malicious grin she looks up at him and says softly: "Now we are even!" and her gaze is directed up to the palace. Ben follows her gaze and feels his heart stop.

After they have said goodbye to Prince Leados, Rey and Sairah leave the dome over a connecting bridge and want to walk towards their rooms. As soon as they leave the heavy door behind them, it closes with a loud bang. 

On the left side below them is the courtyard of the palace and on the other side you can see the gardens.

After walking a few steps, Sairah suddenly stops. 

"Isn't that Ben there?"

Rey follows her gaze. In fact, he is standing between the high columns next to the gardens... with Pharsie. A bad feeling comes over Rey and the next moment she knows exactly why. 

Pharsie seems to lean towards him and... kisses him!  
Rey is petrified. As soon as she leans away from him again, she points her head slightly to the side. Ben turns his head and the next moment their eyes meet. 

Ben stares at Rey with a frightened expression. The latter only looks back expressionlessly.  
It works inside her and for a short time she feels like she was back in Takodana Forest when she was trapped in the Force Starsis like a frightened child.

Carefully Sairah looks her friend in the face, but before she can say anything, she goes on wordlessly and quickly. 

Sairah has trouble keeping up with her.  
"Rey!... Wait a minute!"   
But Rey ignores her and keeps going. When they can look at the landing field, they stop. A ship very familiar to them is landing there right now.

"Why is the flakon here?" Rey asks with an undisguised anger in her voice.

Sairah again cannot react fast enough when her mistress already hurries to the landing place.  
Arriving there, the ramp just opens and Rose rushes out.

"Rey! Sairah!" she calls happily to them. She immediately jumps around Sairah's neck.  
"Ohh, it's so good to see you again." 

In the next moment she wants to wrap Rey around her neck, which she doesn't do after a look at her face.

Poe comes down the ramp greets Rey and Sairah with a short hand movement and then addresses his words to someone behind them.

"So! You called us, here we are... what can we do for you Ren... uh Ben?!"

Slowly Rey turns around.   
Behind her, Ben is standing, cautiously looking at her.   
Behind him, standing at an upstairs window, she can see Pharsie. Angrily she looks back at Ben, who is swallowing softly. 

And with suppressed anger in her voice she says:  
"We have to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a nice Sunday.
> 
> Tomorrow there will be two chapters. 
> 
> Love, your Lori ❤


	5. The Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It'll get worse before it gets better.
> 
> In this chapter, there's a suggestion of attempted rape.

Silently Rey and Ben leave the landing site again. Sairah, Rose and also Poe stare after them with wide open eyes.  
The next moment Finn comes down the ramp, closely followed by BB8 and Chewbacca.

"Hey Rey wait a minute..." he is about to start, but is stopped by Poe in time.  
"No, no, no, no, you better let her work out her anger at the other guy."  
"What?" Finn asks confusedly.  
"You're not the only guy on the planet she's angry at right now, by the looks of it."  
"What's wrong?" asks Finn still confused.  
"Apparently, there's stress in paradise... perhaps our lovely Sairah will tell us what bent the twist in their crown..."  
Both Sairah and Rose look at him with anger.

After Sairah and the others have greeted each other she leaves the landing place and makes her way to their rooms. She is of the opinion that they have already made up with each other and will continue their action of the afternoon...

She's already preparing herself for the fact that she'd rather spend the night with her friends in the Falcon if the two of them _have fun_ all night long.

When she turns a corner, a bad feeling comes over her and she stops abruptly. Then she hears steps... strange footsteps... and it occurs to her again what Rey had asked her to do after her arrival... that she should not leave her side...

Arriving in the rooms, Rey goes straight to her room. It's cut exactly like Ben's, only mirror-inverted. Without knowing exactly what to do, she stops in the middle of the room and crosses her arms.

She hears him enter the room behind her, but he doesn't say a word.  
She thinks for a long time... what she should do now...  
She has kissed him...  
She kissed her Ben...  
He's hers!!!  
Again and again she goes over this sentence in her head... _He's mine! Only mine!_

"I'm an idiot!" it suddenly comes quietly from behind. She doesn't turn around.  
"You were right about everything..." she still doesn't turn around.  
"She is calculating and evil."  
She turns her head back slightly.  
"And I'm an idiot...!"  
Then she hears him move and slowly turns to him.

He's gotten down on his knees in front of her and lowered his head. Slightly annoyed, she rolls her eyes. So, she can't be angry with him!

Slowly she walks towards him and lets him lean his head against her belly. Gently she strokes his hair and he puts his arms around her thighs.  
"Yes...!" she says in a still angry tone.  
"...you're an idiot...!"  
Then she pulls his head up so he looks her in the eyes.  
"You're my idiot! Never forget that!"  
She says her last words in a slightly fragile voice.

Gradually, he rises and pulls her into his arms. She puts her hands behind his back and pulls herself tight against him. As he tries to lift her chin with one hand to kiss her, she defensively puts one hand on his mouth and turns her head to the side, breathing in sharply.  
"Ben...!"  
"Yes... sorry!"  
She can't possibly kiss him now. _She_ touched his lips.

The next moment, she's just a flash of lightning. She hears a voice... a desperate scream...

"Rey?" he asks anxiously.  
Then she understands and runs away. She doesn't hear Ben anymore, who calls after her and follows her a few moments later. She only hears the screaming. She must find her... she must save her!!!

When she's bent around a bend, she can feel it... behind a door, she's...  
She's running towards it, rattling the handle... It's locked. With a powerful burst of force she rips the door off its hinges.

Behind it, three figures are frightened.  
**"NO!!!!"** cries Rey and hurls it to the side with a hand movement and another force push. All three slam against a wall. Now Sairah appears. They had torn her dress and held her down while one of the men tried to open his pants. Trembling, she walks towards her. She is lying on the ground and since she is no longer being held, she curls up. Rey sits down and pulls her into her arms.  
Her whimpering now becomes louder and louder.

The next moment she hears the three men falling out of the room. But she does not run after them! She must stay here now... with Sairah... she can't leave her alone now. Then Ben bursts into the room...  
After a few seconds he realises what has happened.

"Where are they?" he calls to her.  
"They ran away!" Rey replies. Ben is already chasing after them, but...  
"Ben! Give me your coat!"  
The one who's spoken to takes it off, throws it at her and runs away. 

_He'll chase them and then...? Whatever!_  
Now she has to take care of Sairah.

Whimpering and sobbing, she lies in her arms, holding the shreds of her dress together.  
She can't possibly leave her here!  
"Sairah...!" says Rey in a weak voice.  
"Dear! Come... I'll take you to safety!"  
Carefully she gets up with her and puts Ben's coat over her shoulders. Protecting her, she puts one arm around her and holds her free hand with the other one, which is not holding her dress together. On the direct way they walk towards the landing field.

From a distance she can see Rose and Finn, who are probably unloading something. When they are noticed by the two, they immediately run towards her. But before they can reach the small bridge, Pharsie appears in front of them.  
"Oh...! But _Princess_ Rey! What happened to your servant? She looks so... disheveled.'

Rey stares at her angrily and Pharsie looks back amused. The next moment Rose and Finn join them.  
"What happened?" it comes from Rose in desperation.

Pharsie throws a last sideways glance at Sairah, who in Rey lets the bile rise up and walks away.  
At this moment an eerie rage awakens in Rey. She stares after Pharsie with an almost mad look.  
_It was her!_  
She is sure of it.

"Rey! Stop it!" it comes angrily from Finn.  
Rey looks at him in surprise.  
"You are making the columns quiver." he says, pointing to the slightly vibrating columns that Pharsie is strolling past. 

She has to breathe in and out a few times to calm down again and not cause any misfortune.  
King Bravooh probably wouldn't appreciate it if she buried his daughter under a huge stone pillar... even though she truly deserved it.

With the whimpering Sairah flanked on both sides by Rey and Rose, they cross the small bridge and head towards the Millennium Falcon. 

Once inside, Rey places the heavily trembling Sairah on the lounger in the lounge and puts her head on her shoulder.  
"Rose! A blanket!"  
The technician reacts quickly and brings her a blanket with which she covers the still whimpering Twi'lek.

Rey speaks softly to her.  
"You are safe now... no one will hurt you... shh... calmly... I'm here with you... shh... don't be afraid... everything will be alright..." with the last words tears come to her eyes and she starts to rock back and forth with Sairah in her arms.

_This should not have happened!  
Why did this happen?  
It was her!  
She was the one who did this to her!  
Why did she do it?_

Rey already knows the answer but doesn't want to admit it to herself yet. She increases her anger at Pharsie more and more.

"Rose!"  
She asks the Technician to sit in her place with Sairah. With a last look at her friend she leaves the falcon.  
She doesn't know what she will do now but she must do something! Anything!

In front of the falcon are Finn and Poe. I think Finn just told him what happened.  
"What about Sairah?" Poe asks slightly annoyed.  
But he has no right to be angry now!

"Rey... what are you doing?" Finn tries to get in her way... but he can't reach her.  
She uses the Force to create a wall between them that he can't break down.  
"Rey no...! Rey stay here!" but she doesn't hear him.  
She has to do something now... she has to punish Pharsie... make her suffer. Before her mind, the dark abyss of Ahch-To opens again and she runs straight towards it.

The next moment she is frozen. Like that time in the forest.  
When she looks to the side, she can see Ben, who is just appearing between the columns. He holds up a hand.

_That son of a bitch!_ She thinks to herself.  
He has given her a force stasis again.  
In rage, she stares at him as he slowly walks towards her.

"You won't do this!"  
"It was her! It was her!" she presses out just softly.  
"Rey! We can't prove it."  
**"I don't care!!!"** she yells at him.

She seems to be able to release the Starsis slowly.  
He looks at her intensely the whole time. He can feel what's going on inside her. The darkness almost seems to swallow her up.  
"Rey I told you that the King lets almost everything pass to her. We can't do anything unless we want to start a war. You have to come back down!"

But she doesn't want to _come down_ again. She wants to hate her. And gradually a different feeling spread through her. A stronger feeling... despair. She had to do something. Tears of anger rolled down her cheek.

"Because of mine, direct your anger at me but..." Now she looks at him again. Suddenly, she realizes. It's not her despair she feels... it's his. He is afraid...

"Take the stasis away from me immediately." she asks him in a fragile voice.  
He lowers his hand and she is free. 

But now there's hardly any anger left. She is calm again...

She stares at the ground with clenched fists. As he tries to approach her, she takes a step back.  
"No!"  
And there he is again... the dark abyss... like a scar in the ground, he opens up between them and separates them.  
More and more tears cover her eyes. 

"Leave me alone!" she says in a choked voice.  
But he wants to take a step towards her again. He wants to hold her, comfort her... to tell her that everything can be all right.  
"Ben, I'm warning you!" she squeezes out with all her might.  
"If you don't leave me alone, I'm gonna get in that falcon and get out of here!" 

It hits him like a blow. The chasm between them keeps growing. He stares at her in horror. Then he takes another step back. She turns around and goes back up the ramp into the ship.

Breathing heavily, he watches her. She must not leave... she must stay with him... she belongs with him!

"Make sure she doesn't do anything wrong!"  
Poe gives a quick nod and Ben walks away again.  
_She can't go._  
If she needed space, he'd give it to her. Even if it hurts him, because with every step he takes, he feels something tearing at him inside.


	6. The eavesdropping system

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is desperate. What should she do now?   
> Whatever she chooses... she loses!

All night long Rey had sat with Sairah and held her. Sometime in the early morning she had finally fallen asleep in her arms. With teary eyes Sairah slept calmly and warmed by Rey's presence. 

But Rey had not cried anymore. Where before there had been untameable rage... there was now nothing but emptiness and disappointment.

But she didn't know exactly what she was disappointed in.   
Ben...?   
He had restored her to a force stasis... he had promised never to do it again...   
or because he refused to do anything about Pharsie? No, she knew who to blame...

"Sairah!"   
Sairah's soldier came storming into the ship.   
Ti'es is his name. He had already taken off his helmet and is now approaching the two women with worried faces.   
With one finger on his mouth, Rey asks him to be quiet.  
"She's sleeping." she whispers softly. Carefully she rejects her friend and lets Ti'es take her place.

"Did they..." he starts in a soft, desperate voice.  
"No!"   
Rey knew what he wanted to know and she could tell him calmly that they had done nothing worse to her than to press her down on the floor and tear her clothes...   
But if she had just come in one minute later...

Suddenly Ti'es grabs her hand and looks at her urgently.   
"Thank you!"   
And there it is again... she doesn't deserve... not her! Rey just nods her head and then walks away.

Poe and the others are probably still asleep. For a long time they had been sitting with them and quietly discussing until they too left one by one.

There is nobody in the cockpit. She looks around briefly. It still looks the same as before.  
She sighs, sits down on the pilot's chair and wraps her arms around her legs. Then all the dams break. She knows exactly who she should be angry and disappointed in.   
At herself. 

Silently she cries to herself. It's not Ben's fault, just hers. She gave herself away when she first arrived... she had revealed that Sairah was her weakness. When she insisted that she should not leave her side, she gave herself away. And Pharsie used it mercilessly to harm her... but the one who really suffers is only Sairah!

In deep despair she gives herself over to tears. It feels as if she had been crying for weeks already and all in all she is not only crying about what happened on Xervos...   
All the madness she's had to endure on the various systems over the past few months. The terrible rejection she's experienced from some, the contempt from those who oppose Ben... 

She was just sick of it! She didn't want to do it anymore and most of all... she didn't want to spend the rest of her life like that!  
Slowly a hole seemed to open in her chest. Like a piece of her disappeared.

Eventually, she felt she was no longer alone. With tear-stained eyes, she turns her head back. Finn stands there and looks at her with eyes wide open. 

He is horrified... ...he'd never seen her like that before. Her lower lip trembles as he comes towards her, pulls her up and embraces her.

"Shh Rey... you're not like that... you're stronger." 

Is that her? Right now she feels anything but strong.

"It's my fault!" she says in a fragile voice.  
"What? That Sairah was attacked? Did you send men to attack her?... I think not! ... It's not your fault!"   
In his voice there is a call.  
"But..." she wants to begin.  
"No buts! You can't blame yourself for everything. Sairah is safe! You saved her!"   
He grabs her by the shoulders, holds her a piece of himself and looks her in the eyes.  
"Now stop crying!... That's not fit for a queen!" 

With her eyes lowered, she breaks away from him again and sits in the pilot's seat.

Finn wants to say something again, but is interrupted by a clearing his throat behind him.  
Ti'es stands behind them and seeks their attention. Rey turns to him.

"I have been instructed to inform you that there will be a ball tonight where Master Solo awaits you!"   
Rey turns away from him again.

_Is he serious?_

"He said it is of the utmost importance that you attend."   
Still no reaction from her.  
"Rey?!" Finn addresses her.  
"Ti'es! Please tell him... tell him to leave me alone!"   
After a moment's hesitation, Ti'es says a disappointed "Yes!" and leaves.

When Finn tries to say something, Rey interrupts him immediately.  
"Will you please leave me alone?"

He leaves without another word. Now another problem opens up. She swore from the beginning she would never let anyone get her down... not even Ben. She can't give in now! She can't now.

She's been sitting in that cockpit all day. Eventually she started to make some minor adjustments to the electrical system. She has to admit that the falcon is in a blameless state. Rose seems to have made some changes. A small loudspeaker system with several switches and knobs was installed. 

But again and again she sat down on the pilot seat and stared into the sky. How much she missed piloting a spaceship...   
At the moment she just loves to start the engines and disappear into space... 

But then there's that hole in her chest again and the premonition that it would rip her apart if she left him.

At some point she can tell from the light that the sun is already setting and inside the palace walls there seems to be quite a commotion.

"Rey! We have to talk." it comes from behind. Rose sits down next to her in the co-pilot's seat. She takes a deep breath in and out, but before she can say anything, Finn talks in between.  
"You should eat something."

Annoyed, Rey rolls her eyes and wraps her arms around her legs again.  
"Oh, great. Someone else telling me what to do!" she says in an angry tone.  
"Finn! Please shut up!" Rose says angrily.

Rey does not look at them.  
"What Finn probably wanted to tell you is that we're worried and that..."  
"How is Sairah?" she interrupts the technician.  
"I'm fine!"   
Startled, Rey turns her head back. There's Poe, Ti'es and Sairah. She is now wearing a new dress and holding the hand of her soldier.  
Rey can feel the tears rising to her eyes again.  
"Sairah it is..."  
"No!" replies the Twi'lek and walks towards Rey.   
"It is not your fault! You must not tell yourself that it is!" she says calmly and puts a hand on her cheek.

"Listen! These idiots are asking me to convince you to go to the ball."   
Rey is already protesting but is interrupted by Sairah.  
"But I know that you can't possibly go... on the one hand that bitch-snake would have won if you stayed away from the ball but..." now she is talking very softly. "...but she also would have won if you go and just give in to Ben!" 

At this moment Rey can't believe how well Sairah knows her. She has understood exactly what her problem is.  
"But what do we do now?" the chambermaid asks desperately anyway.  
Rey lowers her eyes again.   
Yes, what do they do now?

"Say, isn't that the bitch-snake I mentioned?" asks Rose curiously, staring out of the window. Everyone pushes themselves forward and looks out towards the small bridge that leads to the landing place.  
"Who is that guy?" asks Finn.  
"Prince Leados." says Rey thoughtlessly. He walks quickly towards the bridge, closely followed by Princess Pharsie.  
"Oh, I wish you could hear..." Sairah begins.  
"Nothing could be easier." replies Rose and turns on the small loudspeaker system   
"No! Not Rose...!" Finn tries to stop them, but by then they hear the voice of the Prince.

_"Stop it, Pharsie!"_ you suddenly hear the clear voice of the prince from the little lait speakers.

"A little eavesdropping." Rose explains to Rey.  
"It's very convenient for the two of them to stand outside and talk about things I'm not supposed to hear." she continues, pointing her thumb at Finn and Poe. Rey looks at the two with a slight smile.  
"She knows things about us..." Finn begins.   
"...that she should never know." Poe ends.

_"Pharsie, enough already!"  
"What do you want?"  
"I have learned that Lady Sairah was attacked last night!"  
"She is only a humble servant." she says in a voice filled with disgust.  
"Stop it!.. I know full well you had something to do with it." Brief silence.   
"That... my dear, you can't prove to me!"  
"What is your problem?" he asks in horror.  
"Is it your wounded pride? Because Ren chose her? Are you jealous?"  
"Of that little tramp? No! I couldn't care less about Kylo Ren..."   
She remains silent for a few moments, and seems to have stopped laughing.  
"I have never cared about him... when he tried to convince me to serve the First Order, he didn't have to do much... ...but his flirting was pleasant! I believed from the beginning that the First Order is the only power in the universe that can defeat chaos!"   
Another silence.  
"And then he shows up here with this brat and wants to make her a queen." she spits aside.  
"But he seems to have a high opinion of her!" says Leados defensively.  
"Pha! But of course he's delighted with her! He is thrilled that what every man loves in a woman... and that is between her legs!!!" she says the last words with undisguised hatred in her voice.  
"Oh, I'm sorry... Any man but you, of course."  
"You realize that your action endangers the Grey Alliance?!" he asks angrily.  
"But of course...! I didn't plan anything else! If father cannot present the future royal couple to the assembled dignitaries tonight, they will take it as an affront and rebel against them. Father will also withdraw his support for the Grey Alliance and with him many other systems will follow ...! The Grey Alliance will never come about! And that little Jakku-bitch will_ **NEVER BE QUEEN!** " _she screams the last words in anger.  
"Listen to my words, dear brother. Tonight already, the dream of a Grey Alliance will burst like a soap bubble!"  
"If you are not mistaken about her!"  
"Pah!" she goes on._

_"Bitch!" mumbles Leados and turns back to the falcon._

At that moment Rey jumps up, knocks on the windowpane and as soon as Prince Leados looks at her, she tells him to meet her at the ramp. Before she leaves the cockpit, she threatens Rose with destroying her apparatus if she dares to eavesdrop on her.

Arriving downstairs Leados looks at her with a contrite look.  
"How is Lady Sairah?" he asks in a husky voice.  
"Agreed..." comes only from her.  
"I'm sorry! I wish there was something I could do. But my sister is the image of my late mother and my father still sees his beloved Queen in her... ...and I, too, have no chance against her."

"Is it true?"   
Confused, the prince looks up.  
"Is it true the Grey Alliance will be in danger if I don't appear at the ball?"

For a while, the Prince looks at her closely.  
"To be perfectly frank... yes! I'm afraid it's going to happen. My father has a very good reputation in the surrounding systems. And he is dependent on the dignitaries."   
Then there is silence and for a short time, nobody says anything.

"Princes... Rey! I can see that you are a freedom-loving person who doesn't want to be restricted by anyone... but this time... your stubbornness would endanger everything...  
...you should decide for yourself if it's worth it..."  
"I thank you, Prince Leados..."

He bows to her and walks away. Leaving behind Rey, who now has to choose to stick behind...  
Of course, the Grey Alliance is more important than her desire for freedom... but she never wanted to live like this.

When she went back up the ramp, the others are already waiting for her. They're standing in the lounge, staring at her expectantly. 

Exhaling deeply, she drives herself through the now slightly tousled hair and suddenly reaches for something in it. She pulls the fragile-looking little thing out and looks at it for a long time. 

The purple Kleeos blossom. Since Prince Leados had shown it to her, she could no longer think about it. Ben had pulled it out of her hair the last afternoon and put it back in before dinner. 

It was exactly this little flower that the little boy had put in her hair in her dream.  
And then...  
The little boy who... called her Mama.  
Slowly and resolutely she walks towards one of the drawers in which she had packed some of her things. She takes out one of the books she had stored there. 

She now knows exactly what to do!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see... That's two very demotivating chapters. But tomorrow it will be better again... and more fun.
> 
> Everybody stay healthy, please!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	7. The red dress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Together with her friends, Rey works to get the king and dignitaries on her side.

Finn, Rose, Sairah, Poe, Chewbacca, Ti'es and BB8 watch intently as Rey carefully puts the flower she has just pulled out of her hair into one of the books and puts it back into the drawer.

BB8 comes rolling towards the young woman. After a few beeps she turns to the little droid and smiles at him.  
"These are the old Jedi writings. I took them from Ahch -To."   
A few more beeps follow.  
"No... I don't think Master Skywalker knows they're here." she replies and touches the antenna she had straightened out when she first met him.

"Are you saying you stole the books? From Luke Skywalker?" Poe asks in shock.  
"Yes!" Rey just says.  
She rises and goes into a corner where her battlestick is leaning. She briefly strokes her fingers over the metal. Finn is right... she's not like that!

"Sairah?!"  
"Yes?" she replies quickly.  
"Theoretically... how revealing could I be at this ball?"   
Sairah, like everyone else, is shocked by this question. But Rey is not turning around yet.  
Eventually, the person she is talking to finally reacts.  
"Well...," she thinks for a moment. "...since the weather here is relatively mild... and the women here usually walk around with a breath of nothing... ...you can wear just about anything... ...theoretically..."

Now Rey turns to them a little bit, but doesn't look at them yet.  
"Did you happen to bring the purple dress?"   
Sairah... and the others also react very shocked and keep their mouths open.  
"Um... actually... Master Solo ordered me not to pack any backless dresses... since you had the bruises on your back when you left..."  
"What bruises?" Finn asks in between... No one pays any attention to him.

In the next words she looks directly at Sairah.  
"And of course you listened to him?!"  
"Of course I did...! Only... I don't know how but they're actually one... or two very revealing dresses landed in your dressing room..." she says with an innocent expression.  
"Just by chance?!"  
"Exactly!"  
Rey smiles and looks away again.  
"Then please get them!" Without another word she wants to leave the Falcon, but after a short while she stops and turns around again.

"Just to be on the safe side... you plan to go to the ball?!" she asks curiously. Rey looks at her with a blank expression and answers: "Yes!"   
Shortly Sairah thinks about how she can best teach her the following. "Well... then you should know that you have to dance at this ball too."  
"Then teach me!" she instructs her.  
"It's not that easy, Rey! I have been trained as a dancer, but aside from the fact that I don't dance anymore... I'm not good at this kind of couple dance... Maybe Finn can..."  
"Oh, no. I have two left feet." he speaks quickly in between.  
"I'll show her how it's done."   
All eyes turn to Poe, who has taken a step forward with a warped face.  
"Poe Dameron... dancing  
Spice smuggler..." jokes Rey and smiles at him.  
"Yes, yes, we can stop that!" he blows back.  
"Good." says Sairah and asks Ti'es and Finn to join her.

"Aslo well..." Poe begins his dance lesson.  
"Stand right in front of me and give me your right hand." Rey follows his instructions. Then he puts his right hand at her waist.  
"You will place your left hand on my shoulder."   
As soon as she does, Rose comes between them.   
"No, with your left hand, you must hold the dress."   
So instead, with a quick roll of her eyes, she holds her dress and looks him in the eye.  
"Right, now... I take a step towards you and you take a step back... and then back again." 

Rey quickly gets the hang of it, and by looking at her feet, she manages to turn with him. He steers her in the direction she needs to go. When she follows him, it's not that hard, she realizes.

Eventually, he interrupts.  
"Okay, but you should..." he pulls her head up with one hand. "...hold your head up. Your feet know where to go. It's best to look at your dancing partner or a fixed point behind him." 

Rey puts her head to one side in confusion.  
"A focal point... any point that you focus on during the dance. A houseplant, for example, or some person... maybe a man with a funny hat?!" he suggests jokingly.  
"Why should I concentrate on any other point when I have to concentrate to move my feet properly?" she asks slightly annoyed.  
"Well, when you turn with your partner, it is always good to keep your eyes on a fixed point. This prevents you from getting dizzy."  
"I see..." Rey returns in surprise.  
"And another thing, you may have to expect to wear shoes with heels, so you should probably try dancing on the balls of your feet."  
 _Oh great!_ That's what Rey thinks.  
After a while she gets the hang of it and lets him lead her around without any problems.

"That looks pretty good." it comes from Sairah, who comes back with Finn in tow and a small pile of colorful fabric.

Three dresses are spread out in front of her. One black, one beige and one red dress. Rey looks at the three pieces of cloth in front of her for a moment.

"Take the black one, it's the least complicated." Poe suggests.

"No, take the light one. It's the most appropriate color." says Finn.

But she can sense which one is the right one.  
"I'll take the red one."  
Even Sairah is amazed at her choice.  
"Are you sure?" she asks with raised eyebrows.  
Rey looks at her with annoyance.   
'Does she really have to ask that? Why can't she just nod off and put the stupid thing on?

***************************************

_("I'll explain to you roughly how the dress is constructed."  
She steps closer and puts her index fingers on either side of her neck._

_"This time the neck is not held by a cuff with buttons, but is knotted at the nape of the neck." Then she moves her fingers down her neck to the sides of her breasts.  
"Then the top goes very close along here..." When she reaches her waist with her fingers, she steps behind Rey and moves her fingers toward her hips. "Back here it closes up again and ends up about here... That's a little lower than the purple dress." _

_Sairah's fingers meet at the top of her buttocks. For Rey it feels really deep... but it doesn't matter!_

_Then she stands in front of her again, looks her in the eyes once more and puts two fingers under her collarbone again. "And from here..." she runs her fingers down about two inches... between her breasts to about her navel. „... There's another gap up to here. And also, the dress has a side slit in the skirt... up to here..."  
She places one finger on her left thigh... very high up.   
"So your left leg will be just about exposed..."  
"So what?" Rey asks succinctly.  
"That's right... So what... why isn't she dressed yet?" Finn and Poe ask half drooling in the choir. _

_Finn turns to the side and asks, "Why is there straw on the floor?"_

_Poe turns to him and asks back, "Why are you wearing a ski mask?"_

_No, I'm just kidding... ...but it would be funny if Chewbacca yelled "alarm!" in his own language. XDXDXDXD... now the way it's really happening.)_

***************************************

"All right, you'll see. You're going out now!" she says sternly to the men.  
Finn, Poe, Chewbacca and BB8 leave the ship and wait at the ramp.

A short time later Rey has to realize that Sairah's concerns were not entirely unfounded. The dress has a rich deep red colour. It is not fastened at the neck by a cuff with buttons, like the purple dress at that time, but with two ribbons tied together at the neck. The back-free part goes down to her hips and is much lower. From collarbone to navel there is a daring recess and on the left side of the skirt a slit goes up to her hips and exposes practically the whole leg. The whole fabric is opaque but so fine that it blows slightly behind with every movement. It is a beautiful dress but it shows far more skin than Rey is used to show.

"The dress is... you look like..." Rose wants to start, but can't find the right word. Instead, she goes back in to bring the others in.

Rey ignores the attempted compliments. If she wants to achieve her goal, she must remain unimpressed.

"You look really fantastic." Sairah says appreciatively.   
"...but it's not the dress, it's the shoes."

"What are these murder weapons?" it comes from Finn, who is just coming back in, closely followed by Poe and Chewy.  
The shoes that Sairah is holding can really be used as daggers. Basically they are just two soles, with a narrow heel of about 15 centimetres and two red ribbons on each. 

This could actually become a problem. Rey had never learned to walk in shoes with heels. Sairah had tried several times to let her walk with them. It was a catastrophe every time. She had not even managed to get from her quarters in the spaceship to the command shuttle. Once she had twisted her foot so much that she had to walk bravely the rest of the day in hellish pain... in normal shoes, of course.

But this time she would have to manage to walk in such high shoes, to stand for a long time and to dance.

"That doesn't matter, can you put these things on for me, please?" she asks the Twi'lek, sits down on the bench and holds her first foot up. Sairah ties the straps around her ankles and up to her calf. They are surprisingly tight and do not wobble.

"If you can't make it in the shoes, I can have others look for you..."  
"No! It will work!" says Rey with confidence. She already has an idea... but it would probably cost her a lot of strength... but it's worth it!

Sairah offers her a hand to help her up, but Rey doesn't accept it and stands up alone.   
In the first moment it looks very shaky, but after the first step she already feels it... as if she had never worn anything else. Seemingly without any problems Rey walks through the ship from one side to the other and back again. 

Everyone looks at her with eyes wide open and mouths open. But not only because she has learned to walk on tiptoe in no time, but also because she cuts an incredibly appealing figure in the dress and with the shoes.

"Did she just learn to walk in these shoes in a few seconds?" Poe asks expressionlessly.  
"Yes, it seems that way..." replies Sairah, but she waits to see if she does not fall over at any moment.

"Wait, wait a minute!" Poe grabs Rey by the upper arms and takes a closer look at her feet.  
"That's impossible...!"   
The young woman looks at him uncomprehendingly.  
"I know whore girls from the lower levels of Coruscant, who were forced to walk in shoes not even close to this height and their legs still shake after years of walking and standing in such parts... but with you..." he points to her feet. "... you don't give the slightest movement from you... how do you do it?" he asks indignantly. 

Everyone looks at Rey and waits for an explanation. Only Finn looks at her feet the whole time and has to agree with his friend inside, she doesn't make any movement at all, as if she was still standing barefoot.  
"She uses the force!" he finally says. And again Rey is astonished, she has guessed it before that Finn has a certain sensitivity for force, just like Sairah.  
"Is this true Rey?" Rose asks carefully.   
The addressed person now stares at Poe's hands, which are still holding her upper arms.  
"Sorry!" he says, taking his hands away and holding them up as if in defence.

Rey swallows briefly and then replies: "It requires a high degree of concentration... but yes, I use the force to move around in these things sensibly."  
"Just remind me never to mess with you!" says Sairah with eyebrows raised.

"Your hair... I could tie it so that it would fall over your back and..."  
"No!" Rey cuts it off quickly.  
"I will tie my own hair! Just like I've always done before."  
"The three braids?!" asks the servant doubtingly.  
"Yes...it's still me!"

Sairah understands her. Rey wants to outdo Princess Pharsie... but not as some dressed up girl playing Queen... but as herself... as Queen Rey, who she must learn to be.

While Rey is tying her hair in her usual three braids, Finn looks at her from the side and can't tear his eyes away from her curves, which look incredibly good in this dress. Rose, who notices this, slaps him on the back of the head with her flat hand.  
He goes "Ouch!" and rubs the painful spot with his hand.

As soon as Rey has finished her hair, she walks towards the ramp.  
"Wait!" Sairah calls after her. She stands next to her and obviously wants to go with her.  
"What do you think you are doing?" Rey asks without understanding.  
"Do you think I am going to let you walk alone through the palace walls dressed like that?"

Rey looks at her seriously for a moment. Then she turns around and wants to ask Finn to accompany her, but before she opens her mouth, she sees the way he looks at her. She quickly changes her mind and asks Poe to accompany her. He agrees to accompany the two women to the ballroom and to bring Sairah safely back to the ship.  
Rose and Chewy wish her good luck and watch them from the landing place.

On the way through the palace some guards run towards them and look at them with open eyes. Rey doesn't react but when she sees Sairah flinching every time the men pass her, she gets a sinking feeling in her stomach. She grabs her hand and smiles at her reassuringly. The Twi'lek smiles back shyly and briefly squeezes her hand.

Shortly before the doors to the hall, Rey's heart starts beating more intensely. Now she is seized by the excitement. She must manage to win over the dignitaries and convince the King of her worthiness... not as Rey the warrior... but as Rey... the future Queen of the Grey Alliance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!  
> I hope you don't mind the short part about the dress...  
> I had noticed during the writing, that it doesn't work like that and so I just kept on spinning.
> 
> The thing with the ski mask and the straw is from a stupid German porn movie... (The Alarm - thing to)  
> The opening dialogue is something like..:  
> Girl in a black nightgown: "So, here's the electrical box. Can you look at it?"  
> Big man in a ski mask: "Yes, ok! But why is there straw on the floor?"  
> Girl looks at the straw and then back at the man: "And why are you wearing a ski mask?"  
> Man looks back and goes, "Well... Well, give me a blow job!"  
> Girl shrugs, gets down on her knees and says, "Okay."
> 
> You can probably figure out the rest...
> 
> I had to be careful not to rename the chapter to: "Finn, Poe, the Straw and Ski Mask XD".
> 
> By the way, tomorrow there will be two chapters again. 
> 
> Have fun!  
> Your Lori


	8. The Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Rey and Ben be able to make up at the ball? And can they finally defeat Pharsie...

Already two hours Ben stands next to the throne on which King Dantos stares at the guests with a bored look. He is upset. The dignitaries wait in vain for the future queen.

Even though it hardly makes sense, Ben has nevertheless set out to visit the ball. Stubbornly he looks straight ahead... always towards the two big doors. In constant hope that they will open and Rey will stride through them and come towards him.  
But she will not come. Pharsie made sure of that. He could kick himself... he was such a fool. Pharsie had played it smart... first the kiss, then the attack on Sairah... He just walked into her trap...

Everything is in danger of falling to pieces in front of him. For the past hour he has felt the growing resentment of the dignitaries. They are tired of waiting for a queen who simply will not come.

She can't possibly come. Ben knows very well that she would humiliate herself deeply if she appeared here at his side. She would make herself smaller than she is, and he would never want to let that happen either. But they would lose everything in return.   
Leados had already warned him at the beginning of the ball that everything would blow up in their faces if this evening did not end well.

Slowly he lowers his gaze and closes his eyes. He will lose her again...

Behind him stands Pharsie with a deeply self-satisfied look. She feels like a winner. She has managed to defeat Jakku's girl... now everything would be okay...  
But suddenly Ben raises his head again. In this moment she feels that something has changed.

And so it is... Ben feels her presence.  
A force connection is created. She stands before him... she looks at him breathing heavily.  
She seems to be preparing herself for the next step. They look at each other for a long time. Gradually her breath calms down again and she nods to him briefly... he nods back and in the next moment the door opens and she stands at the other end of the hall.

With his head held high and upright Rey walks through the dividing crowd towards the throne. It seems as if in slow motion to the two of them. They look into each other's eyes the whole time and do not notice how King Dantos stands up with wide open eyes, how the men and women standing around admire Rey with many Oh's and Ah's and they do not see how Pharsie wants to run towards them with clenched fists, but is stopped by Leados standing next to her.

They only see each other.

Before she has reached the steps to the throne, he descends and gives her his hand. Like a goddess she shines at him. His goddess and he is only her humble servant.

In this situation Rey feels reminded of the moment on Supremacy when he held out his hand to her... when he asked her to ally herself with him. To rule at his side as his queen.  
Once again, he wears his black gloves. As before, his offer, unspoken this time, hangs like a stone in the air. And like then, her hand moves upwards by itself.

So much has changed since then. They love each other and they share an incredible passion. Together they have overcome great hurdles and together they would overcome many more. He has taken in so much light in the time with her by his side... her light.

Like last time, his gloves feel smooth and cold, but this time she knows the warmth that is hidden underneath.

Together they climb the steps. She greets the king and his two children with a slight curtsey. Very exuberantly the king welcomes them to the feast and admires their radiant figure.   
Rey doesn't react to it any further than with the same light smile.

As soon as the two of them stand in front of the throne, the dignitaries line up in a queue and let the King introduce them one after the other. They tell everyone that they are happy to meet him here and that they hope for future cooperation.  
But Rey can now also feel the growing anger behind her. Pharsie is boiling with rage.

After all the nobles have been introduced Leados steps to Reys side. Ben, who was holding her hand the whole time, steps aside and lets Leados ask her for the next dance. Without any surprise she accepts his request and lets him lead her onto the dance floor.

As Poe taught her, she gives him her right hand. The only good thing about these shoes is that she is big enough with them and does not have to lift her dress. So she can just put her left hand on his shoulder and let him lead her without any problems.

"I knew you could surprise them all." he tells her quietly after they move to the first bars. She smiles back shyly.  
"Have you seen the look on my sister's face?" he asks amusedly.  
"I have felt her anger." she returns quietly.  
"Oh... she could puke with rage..." Rey has to laugh a little bit at this comment.  
Leados is really a good guy. She likes him and is looking forward to working with him.

"Even if you haven't experienced much joy here... I would be happy if you would pay Xervos a visit again one day... ...for my wedding, for example..."  
Now she looks at him in amazement. Did he just say wedding?!  
"There's a lovely girl who's been a friend of mine since childhood... She has agreed to act as my queen." 

Rey is still a little confused, firstly because of the word 'act' and secondly because she (and Ben) is (are) sure that he only like men.

"Rest assured, just as she knows I'm only interested in men, I know that she has always had a thing for women."   
Rey thinks it's a strange arrangement, but it could work.  
"I wish you happiness from the bottom of my heart." she says smiling.

Shortly after the song ends, Ben appears behind the prince and taps him on the shoulder once.

"Oh... but of course!" says Leados, bows to Ben and walks away. As before, she gives Ben her right hand and puts her left on his shoulder. Only this time he pulls her closer to him at the waist than Prince Leados (or Poe) did. With her shoes on she is only a little bit smaller than him and she looks him straight in the eyes.

"I didn't know you could dance." she says carefully.  
"It seems we still have a lot to learn from each other." he returns with a seductive tone.

This time the dance is different. They turn faster and they make bigger steps. But even though no one ever taught her to dance like that, she still manages to move properly.

Let's go back in time a little... 

When Rey enters the hall, Poe and Sairah stop outside.  
Shortly after the door closes again a servant walks past them. Sairah stops her and speaks to her briefly and quietly. She nods briefly and then points to a point behind her. The Twi'lek says thank you and pulls Poe into an alcove.

"What are you going to do? I think if someone sees us making out like this, then I get in trouble with Ti'es... you know I like that guy!"

Sairah looks at him with a raised eyebrow and upper lip.  
"That... me... I asked the girl if there is a place where you can play a mouse and follow the events in the ballroom!!" she says angrily and takes a picture of the wall behind which there is a hand-sized hole through which you can look into the ballroom.  
"Oh... could we forget what I just said?" he asks sheepishly.   
"Yes... I'm asking for that." returns it dry and tells him to look through the hole.

Right now Rey is standing before the throne and gives Ben her hand. Sairah smiles. They have made up.  
She can feel the restlessness in Rey when she has fought with Ben... it's like the world doesn't work right for her anymore. But now everything is back to normal.

"Hey, look over there!" says Poe, pointing to the princess standing behind Ben at a distance.  
"She looks angry!" says Sairah with pleasure.  
"More than angry!" Poe confirms it and they smile at each other.

As the dignitaries are introduced, Sairah mentions again how amazing she finds it that Rey can stand so still in these shoes. When it comes to the dance between her and Leados, Poe has to praise himself that he managed to teach her to dance so fast.

"Why does a spice smuggler actually have to learn to dance?" Sairah asks interested.   
"Former spice smuggler and... my mom taught me. She was a fine lady... married my dad for love and left her family.   
He looks at the dancers, smiling, lost in thought.

"Hey! Shouldn't she hold up one side of her dress?" Sairah looks closer.  
"No! The shoes make the dress shorter."  
"Hurray for those shoes!... Did you see how Finn was staring at her?"  
"Yes, actually, I think she probably wanted to ask him to come with us."  
"I'm telling you, Rose is gonna be trouble."  
"Are they together?" Sairah asks curiously.  
"Well... sort oooof... but not quite as firm... it's just..."  
"Complicated?" she asks amused.  
"Yes, it's... Finn, you know!... Was she actually very sad that the idiot didn't say goodbye to her back then?" he now asks cautiously.  
"Yes!" she answers slightly sad.

"I tell you... when we noticed that he just left without a word, we probably rounded him off. He more than deserved her anger!"  
"All he'll get is her silence!"  
"What?" he asks in surprise.  
"Yes, if she's angry with someone, she'll keep quiet about them. You can't imagine how loud her silence can be."   
That makes him laugh.  
"Sometimes I really feel like she is a little spitfire noodle."   
Sairah giggles.  
"She is actually quite sociable... if you don't blame her for not sleeping or eating enough. But, uh... Master Solo must suffer from her moods sometimes..." she says with a contrite smile.  
"That's what I said, spitfire noodle!"

"Well, he often blames himself..." Now she talks softer, as if she was telling him a secret.   
„... I saw them arguing once. When she starts to rage, he gets very quiet and then..."  
"What, and then?" he asks curiously.  
"Then he smiles."  
"He smiles?!" he asks in disbelief.  
"Yes, as if he were happy... and then she gets angrier... I don't know how he calms her down...that's when he sent me out."

"Weren't you eavesdropping?" he asks cheekily.  
"Really ...!" she utters angrily.  
"All right, all right... look, our royal couple seems to be dancing now." he points through the hole. As they start to dance Sairah has to smile happily again. She looks at Rey like a little sister now and is happy if she is. And Ben will make her very happy.

"Hey... he really gets into their dancing area... are they allowed to dance so tightly?" he asks, playfully indignant.  
"Only he is allowed to!" she answers with a knowing smile.  
"But that's not the dance I taught her... how did she learn it?" he asks.

Sairah looks at them for a while and then answers calmly.  
"That's the way it is with these two... they form a dyad in the force..." she smiles at him again and then pulls him away from the hole.  
"Come on, we should go back to the Falcon. As soon as they come back, we're leaving this planet."  
Poe stops for a second and then yells after her, "What the fuck is a dyad?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the part about Poe's family, I have to say that I didn't read anything about his parents when I wrote this back then.  
> Of course, now I know that his mom and dad were already fighting the Empire.
> 
> And at some point there is a translation error.   
> There is no reasonable German translation for the term Dyad.   
> In Germany, is the term "Zweiklang der Macht"... which means "Dual sound in the force".
> 
> At some point in the story, I'm gonna come back to this.


	9. Disputes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's payday for BitchiBitch Pharsie!   
> However, our future rulers have not yet settled all matters between them.

He whirls her around faster than Leados before and keeps her close to him all the time. With time, their heartbeat matches his and they are closer to each other than they have been for a long time.

As soon as the dance is over, she still looks into his glowing eyes and hardly notices that the whole hall bursts into enthusiastic applause because of their dance performance. Ben leads her back towards the throne, where Pharsie already comes stomping towards her.

"Ooooh..." she starts in a greasy voice.  
"That dance, it was really quite... and the dress! I bet as a scavenger on Jakku you didn't have..."

**"PHARSIE!!!"** the King shouts at her.

She looks at him in shock, to her father.   
She's not used to being hit by him like that. With quick steps he approaches her and pulls her by the arm further behind the throne. But even the distance does not prevent most of the bystanders from hearing his loud voice.

"Enough is enough! I will not tolerate this impertinence any longer. They are my guests and you must treat them as such!"  
"But Father...!"  
" **NO!** Pharsie, you have played your games with her and lost! Face it, Pharsie! And one more thing you should know, all dignitaries... all the people on Xervos despise and hate you. You're nothing like your mother!"  
And with these words he turns and leaves her.

With a friendly face he approaches Ben and Rey.  
"My queen. Please forgive me. You look truly beautiful. You have won over all the nobles in this room. Their hearts fly to you. I see a great future for you both and you can be sure of Xervo's support."  
"We thank you!" they both come out of it like a chorus. They look at each other with smiles.

"If you don't mind we'd like to say goodbye now." Ben asks him.  
"Oh, certainly... I heard your next destination was..."  
"Still unclear, Father!" he is interrupted by Leados, who joins his father.

For a moment the King seems to blush and Ben also seems to have stiffened briefly.  
"Rey! It was a great pleasure!"   
Even though she is still amazed by the reaction of the King and Ben, she approaches the Prince, gives him a kiss on the cheek and says smiling: "I am glad to have made your acquaintance and look forward to our reunion."   
Obviously bewildered by her warmth, he touches his cheek with one hand and smiles at her.

On the way out Ben tries to grab her hand again, but she skillfully removes it from him. Instead he gives her his arm, which she accepts with a smile. 

Hopefully he will let it go at some point.

The night air is very cool by now and Reys of many free skin gets goose bumps.  
On his way through the empty corridors Ben takes off his gloves at some point and puts them into his coat pocket. Arriving at a small bench he pulls his fiancée aside and lets her sit on it. In front of her he gets down on his knees and without warning starts to undo the straps of her shoes.

"How you managed to walk properly in these things is a mystery to me." As soon as the shoes come off, he massages her feet. She puts her head back and moans briefly. Her feet feel like they're on fire.   
It took all her concentration (and some force) to walk in the shoes without any problems and now she would have to pay the price.

Carefully she runs her hand through his hair. Friendly he looks up to her. One hand is still on her left calf and slowly wanders up.  
"I..." he wants to start... but she puts a hand on his mouth and forces him to shut up again.  
"You can apologize later!" she says quietly.  
"Now help me up! I will be glad when we are off this planet!" she instructs him.

He stands up smiling, takes off his coat and puts it around her shoulder. He puts the shoes in her hand. Then he pulls her up and before she can protest he takes her in his arms. 

She has thought about complaining for a moment but then he fixes her with his gaze and suddenly there is nothing else around her. Just him and her... and then there's this incredible closeness that she had felt while dancing. Not an unpleasant closeness... just consciousness, his immediate presence. It feels like dozens of little butterflies fluttering around in her empty stomach.

"You're blushing?!" he says with a slight surprise. Her breath goes a little faster. She gently strokes his cheek with her fingertips.  
"Your fingers are cold." he utters in a rough voice.  
"You'll have to warm them later." she countered with a seductive smile.

Just before they come into the Falkon's sight, she asks him to let her go again. A bit disappointed he lets her down and watches her amusedly as she takes the first painful steps.

Arriving at the small bridge he grabs her hand and holds it back.  
"Wait, I want to tell you something else... no, I'll apologize later," he says quickly before she interrupts him again to apologize later.

"I know from some systems that it is customary for a man to give a ring to his fiancée..." he says calmly.  
"But you've already given me the necklace." she replies, holding up the fine silver links with a finger from which a purple crystal is suspended.   
She has not taken it off since that evening.

"No, I gave you the necklace for another reason. But I want to give you a real engagement ring!"  
She steps a little closer and gives him a serious look.  
"Ben, you can't give me jewelry every time I get mad at you!"  
He puts his head to one side in amusement.  
"No, that wouldn't be good...! I'd get to you sooner with a gun or a tool." he says with a smile. Then she laughs, turns around and goes to the waiting crew of the falcon.

Sairah holds her tightly in her arms.   
"Did you see her face?" she asks excitedly. Rey just smiles.  
"How are you Sairah?" asks Ben, who stands with them.  
"I'm fine... thanks Master Solo!"  
"I'm sorry for what happened to you. Prince Leados has promised me that he will find the men and they will be punished."   
Rey is amazed.  
"That is very kind of the prince." Sairah replies.

"Man girl! You really got the hang of that dance, didn't you?" that came from Poe, admiring Rey.  
 **"Don't call me a girl!"** she says angrily.  
He is stunned by her rapid change of mood and stops moving.  
Even Sairah looks at her with big eyes.

"Oooookeyyy!" she starts off cautiously.  
"It is all tucked away and ready to go. The Falcon will follow us to the command ship, then we'll get ready to jump into hyperspace."  
"Good!" Ben answers and pushes Rey to the command shuttle. She turns to him and whispers, "Where are we going next?"  
"To another planet." He simply answers. She stops and looks at him angrily.

"Are you kidding me?!"  
"You'll find out...!" he stops.   
She crosses her arms and stops stubbornly.  
"Why is the Millennium Falcon here?" She wants an answer now. He's caused trouble on this planet by withholding things, he's got to stop!  
But Ben is also a stubborn man, which has already caused the two of them a fight or two.

Sairah and Ti'es, who have followed them, go past them into the command shuttle without seeing them. They quickly realized that it is good for their health and peace to stay out of their quarrels.

But Ben wants to go on and tries to tell her at least a part of the truth.  
"I have asked the crew of the Falcon here because... because I need their help... on a personal matter."   
She waits in silence, pursing her lips.  
"And as for our next objective... ...just let yourself be surprised!"   
She is not satisfied with the answer, but despite his coat around her shoulders, she starts to freeze. Without another word she turns around and climbs back into the command shuttle.

During the flight to the command shuttle, Rey remains silent. It would amount to another fight. She is so tired of his secrets. Lately, he had received repeated reports that he cleverly hid from her. Something is in the air and he refuses to tell her.

Arriving at the hangar, Rey already wants to go down the ramp, but is grabbed by Ben and lifted onto his arm.  
"WHAT...?!" she screams.  
"I don't want you to walk around _here_ with bare feet!" he says sternly and looks at her forcefully. For a moment she seems to weigh off and then just nods briefly. 

Outside, the falcon's friends also get straight out. With big eyes they look at the two squabblers. 

Unnoticed, Rose whispers to Sairah: "Have they made up again?"   
The addressed one answers just as quietly: "No... she just doesn't want to make a scene here, I think!"

"Sairah!" Ben addresses her. She turns to him in shock and thinks she has been caught for a moment.  
"That'll be al..." before he can finish, Rey puts her hand on his mouth and forces him to shut up.

All eyes are on the young woman in his arms. She looks at him very seriously. Then she turns to Sairah.  
"That will be all for today, you can take the night off!"   
Surrendering she nods to her mistress, curious what happens next. Rey turns her head back to Ben and says in a calmly threatening tone: "The only one who gives my chambermaid the night off is me!" and with these words she takes her hand off his mouth again.  
Everyone in her immediate vicinity looks back and forth between the two. (now popcorn is missing!^.-)  
Just as seriously he replies: "Got it!" and continues with her to his quarters.

As soon as they are out of earshot, Poe stands up to the two girls and puts his arms over their shoulders.  
"Now, tell me, are they going to spend the rest of the evening silent or yelling or..."  
"None of your business!" says Rose, and pushes his head away with her hand.  
"What do you think?" he asks Finn, who is still staring after them and remains silent.  
"If you ask me, she's giving him quite a beating!"   
No one pays any attention to Poe.   
"Let's get one thing straight...! You'll never get bored with those two!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, love!
> 
> Thank you very much to all readers and comment writers.  
> I wish you all a nice week. 
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	10. Make peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NSFW-Warning
> 
> "You're welcome to apologize now... if you like."  
> Carefully, he looks up at her and thinks for a moment.
> 
> "I'm sorry I kept so much from you. I acted like an idiot _again_... and I love you more than my life!"   
> His words sound sincere and not contrived.
> 
> She looks down at him with an intense gaze.  
> "Then prove it!" she says cheekily and nibbles her lower lip.  
> She leans back slightly and pulls the skirt of her dress aside at the slit.

Arriving at the quarters he lets her down wordlessly and locks the door behind him. She watches him for a moment and then sits down at the table. 

Resting her head on her crossed hands, she watches him hand her a glass of water and hand her some fresh fruit from a plate. She thanks him and takes a sip of the water. Then he sits down opposite her and rests his head on his crossed hands as well. Silently he watches her nibbling on one of the fruits.

She is almost expecting an instruction from him that she has to eat more. But he remains silent and after she has taken a few more sips of water she puts the glass down and lays her arms flat on the table. She straightens up a little and takes a deep breath.

"Don't you trust me?"   
He raises his head in amazement.  
"What makes you think so?"  
"Tell me! Don't you trust me?"   
He looks at her questioningly for a moment.  
"I would trust you with my life... without hesitation!" he confesses to her.

"Then why don't you tell me why the falcon is here?"  
"Because I don't want you to worry!"  
"What could possibly disturb me?" she asks curiously.  
He hesitates briefly.   
"The falcon is here for our protection. There have been isolated threats and... ...and I worry about you."

"And why couldn't you tell me this before?"  
"Because you have enough on your plate as it is. I just don't want to put any more on you than I have to."   
His voice is sweet and his eyes are soft.  
"But we knew that threats were coming. We knew it all along."  
"Yes, but it's been getting worse and worse lately. And if something happens to you... Rey! I don't know how I would react if I lost you. I don't want that to happen at all."

For a while, they only look each other in the eyes. Then she gets up and wants to walk around the table. But she has obviously forgotten that the dress is too long without the shoes. As soon as she gets up and wants to take a step, she falls to the floor once along her nose.

Ben jumps up immediately and crouches down to her, but his movement and worry diminish as soon as he can hear her giggling.

"Oh man! That stupid dress!"   
She turns on her back and starts to laugh. Ben looks at it for a while and enjoys her joyful mood. Eventually, he gets up and takes her with him.

Then there's that closeness again. They look at each other for a long time and just before his lips cover hers she notices that he has come towards her again. It is a very tender and careful kiss. Very slowly he touches her forearms and slowly drives up on them until he holds on to her shoulders, her neck and finally to her face. She, on the other hand, claws into his shirt and pulls him wildly.  
At some point he breaks away from her and looks at her amused.

"How on earth could you walk in those shoes?"   
She blushes.  
"It could be that I... I used the force... to walk in these things without looking untrained!"  
"You did a really good job." he says appreciatively.  
"If you want, I'll massage your feet." he offers seductively.  
"With pleasure!" she says. 

He carefully places her on the table and kneels before her. His treatment feels incredibly pleasant. He takes care to give both feet the same attention and at the end he gives her a gentle kiss on each ankle.

And then she gets an idea.  
"You're welcome to apologize now... if you like."  
Carefully, he looks up at her and thinks for a moment.

"I'm sorry I kept so much from you. I acted like an idiot _again_... and I love you more than my life!"   
His words sound sincere and not contrived.

She looks down at him with an intense gaze.  
"Then prove it!" she says cheekily and nibbles her lower lip.  
She leans back slightly and pulls the skirt of her dress aside at the slit. He understands immediately and smiles. A little game he likes to play. Even though she has always wanted to prevent him from eating her. But this time she wishes nothing more than to see his head buried between her legs.

With a penetrating look he stares at her while he reaches under her dress and takes off her panties. Then she spreads her legs and grants him access to her cunt.   
He spreads her thighs even wider and looks at her greedily.

Without another unnecessary word he pulls her lower lips apart with two fingers and licks with his tongue over her wet hole. As soon as he reaches her clitoris and sucks it between his lips, she puts her head down her neck and gives a whimper. 

Careful she strokes her fingers through his hair. Again and again she bites her lower lip and lets out louder and louder sighs. He has become very skilful in this, even though she has always resisted it. 

Without warning he pushes two of his big fingers into her and touches exactly the right spot, which almost drives her crazy.  
During his skilful treatment she can feel the engines of the spaceship starting up. They are about to change into hyperspace and the closer they get to the jump, the closer he drives her to orgasm.  
As if adapted, she explodes at the same moment the ship jumps into hyperspace.

She screamed out loud and barely noticed how he jumped up and gave her support when she collapsed. Leaning on his shoulder she is helped by the table and escorted into the bathroom. Still out of breath and stirred by slight aftershocks she suddenly stands in front of the mirror, he behind her.

"Ben! What is this?" she asks suspiciously.  
"I just want you to see it once." he just says. She looks up and sees herself and him behind her.  
"What?" she asks confused.  
"Don't you see it?!"  
"What?" Still confused, she looks closer. Her cheeks are very red and his hair is slightly tousled. Her excitement still shimmers on his mouth and chin. His hands are on her hip and with his thumbs he keeps going under the fabric of her dress. He spreads gentle kisses on her neck and nape.  
"What am I to recognise?" she is already a little more impatient.  
"How beautiful you are!" he simply says.  
She feels her cheeks automatically become even redder.

"Rey... why can't you see what I see every day? Regardless of this dress or any other trinket... you are beautiful! On the outside as well as on the inside! I love you for everything about you... for your laughter, your pout, your corners and your edges..., I love how you see inconspicuous things as something special and... I couldn't bear to lose you!"

She can hardly look in the mirror with his words. Until he says this.  
"If I pull this tape now... will the dress fall off you like the purple one?"   
Shocked, she looks up and can just see his sassy grin as he pulls on one of the ribbons.

The dress slides down her body like water. The only thing she is wearing now is the silver chain with the purple crystal around her neck. As if by reflex, she wants to turn to him, only that she doesn't have to look at herself naked in the mirror, but he holds her by the shoulders.

"Look Rey! You are beautiful! And I need to know, because I can feel the desire of any man who sees you."   
She looks. She never really thought of herself as beautiful... but all she can read in his eyes is deep and sincere love.

One of his hands slides from her shoulder to her chest and he takes one of her nipples between his fingers. She immediately shrugs and wants to slap his hand away. Embarrassed she turns her head to the side and puts her forehead against his cheek. With the other hand he slowly moves down her belly. 

"And do you know when I find you particularly beautiful...?" with these words his hand slides into her crotch and begins to massage her sensitive little pleasure spot. Startled, she looks up.   
"Ben!" she moans his name. She can feel his excitement behind her. His breath also goes faster and he presses her firmly against him. She bends forward panting and he bends with her while he fingers her wet middle.

Her heart hammers wildly and they straighten up again. She pushes his hands away, turns to him and starts kissing him while she pulls his vest and shirt from his body. 

She is still careful to undo the buttons of the vest, but she has no more patience for the shirt. Several buttons bounce off when she just tempts it. With her hands she runs her hands over his muscular chest, up to his neck, where she pulls him closer. He does not release her lips.

He pulls down his pants and underpants and, as soon as he has got rid of them, pushes her back towards the room and straight to the bed. Without much feather reading, as soon as they have arrived, he simply lets her fall backwards and attacks her. Again he closes her mouth with his and pulls her right knee up.   
As he enters her, he has to stop the kiss. Breathing heavily, he looks at her with fascination as he slowly starts to slide out of her and into her. 

She is so tight, so warm and so wet... like every time, he has to remember that she is like made for him.   
She puts her arms around his neck and wraps her legs around his waist. With powerful thrusts, he pushes her and pushes himself ever closer to a climax.

When he notices that she runs her fingernails over his back, he cries out in pain, grabs her wrists and holds them above her head. Then he carefully bites her neck. As soon as he bites a little harder, a violent orgasm breaks out over her.

While she still lets the waves of ecstasy wash over her, he pulls himself out of her and pulls her up. He lies on his back, straddles her and lifts her pelvis so that he can slide into her again. At first his hands are on her hip and instruct her to move, but then she grabs his hands and interlocks them. With circling up and down movements she rides him close to the threshold. He lets go of her hands which she lays on his chest and he touches her waist. Then he straightens up and rides up her back with his hands.

One of his hands moves between them and he starts to stimulate her hypersensitive clitoris with his fingers.  
Carefully he licks her breasts and gently on her nipples.  
She grabs his hair with both hands and holds him close. The otherwise so unpleasant tickling of her breast has now become incredibly erotic. For her it feels like little electric shocks that go straight to her lower abdomen, where a delicious pressure builds up.

Again and again she moans his name like a prayer and when they both come to the climax together, they cling tightly to each other.

When he falls backwards exhausted, he pulls her with him and holds her tight.  
This moment feels so perfect for both of them ... that they would love to let it never end.

After a while, her naked skin cools off and she starts to freeze. When he notices it, he lets her slide down the side of him and wraps his arms around her. Since the beds in the quarters are only meant for one person each, they lie close together.

Deep in thought, she circles her fingers over the scars on his chest and he gently strokes her back.  
"How is it that Leados has searching for the attackers?" she asks into the silence at some point.  
"Because I was talking to him."  
"And why didn't he tell me?"   
If he had told her that he was having them searched, she would have forgiven Ben more easily and would have gone to him sooner.

"Because I asked him to keep the conversation between us..."  
"Don't you think I would have approached you a lot sooner if I'd known?"  
He still closed his eyes and didn't say anything for a while.  
"In hindsight, I should have done that..."   
She looks at him in amazement...  
"Did you just admit you made a mistake?"  
"If you remember, I told you earlier that I behaved like an idiot... even before we set foot on this planet..."  
"I was just amazed..." she mumbles.

"But we should talk about your anger issues at some point..." he speaks seriously.  
"What about it?" he looks at her.  
"Do you think I haven't felt your anger... when you made the palace tremble? Or when I stopped you from doing something rash... when you fought off your friends with the Force..."  
She closes her eyes in shame. Actually, he's not wrong... she couldn't control herself... Perhaps the pull of the dark side is weighing on her more than on him now... could it be?

"You manipulated me with the Force again..." she accuses him.  
"I'm sorry... at that moment, I was terrified of losing you..."  
"I know it was the right thing to do... I could feel your despair..." she admits.   
"But I don't want this. I'm not your little girl that you can train, hairdress and dress as you please! I love you and you are more important to me than anything else... I just don't want to be raised by you or controlled by you... Take me as I am!" during her speech, he looks at her the whole time.

"Sairah is in charge of hairdressing and dressing and... I won't talk her into it... I leave that to you, after all she is your chambermaid and as far as educating or training is concerned... I just want you the way you are. Even if I didn't know it before but you've always been the person I've been waiting for."

For a long time they remain silent and hang on to their thoughts... if the Force had brought them together before... if his uncle had learned of a Force presence on the unimposing planet Jakku before Ben was his student... if they had known each other before he made so many mistakes... before there was Kylo Ren...

Again he looks at his lightsaber he left on the table after he entered the room with her...  
He's been staring at that damn thing a lot lately. He knows his fate is closely linked to that sword. Soon he would have to face some tests... without Rey at his side. Only when he has overcome all this could he take off into the future with her. But it's still a risk. She'd hate him if she found out what he was up to. But first he will enjoy every remaining moment with her that they still have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a list of the names in the story that I have freely invented.
> 
> Xervos   
> Danton Bravooh  
> Leados Bravooh  
> Pharsie Bravooh... I think the name made me think of the drink the Pharisee. (coffee, rum and cream)  
> Kleeos blossom... Deepl translator wants to turn the word constantly into clover blossom XD  
> De'ostres... if I ever have the time, write a little one-shot of Ben and Ray's "adventure" on this planet...
> 
> Then of course Ti'es... his identification number probably started with TS...
> 
> In the future a few names will appear, for which I have researched on Jedipedia (Wookeeipedia in your case). 
> 
> Links to them will be listed in the endnotes. (To Wookeeipedia of course) 
> 
> Then I wish you a nice rest of the week.   
> Stay healthy, everybody!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	11. Ko'lek and Oo'rha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A question is thrown into the room that gives Ben a little shock.  
> And we learn more about Ben's first encounter with Sairah.

_Sunshine... Bright sunshine dazzles her...  
Again the children's laughter...   
With a jerk, she sits up. She's back on the meadow... Surrounded by many little purple Kleeos blossoms... And there is the boy...  
"Mum!" he greets her.   
"Are you finally awake?"   
Rey is confused. Was she asleep? Isn't this a dream?   
The boy smiles at her.  
"What is your name?" She asks quietly.  
"But you know, silly... you gave me my name..."   
Makes sense!  
"Where are we?" she asks instead and looks around.  
"You already know that!"  
She is sure that if he is who he seems to be... he's very much like his father... ...the same stubborn, secretive man.  
"Where is your father?"   
This time he must answer...  
"He's still in the house." says the boy, pointing behind her. Slowly she turns and looks up the hill at a beautiful villa. With sand-colored walls and dome-shaped green roofs. It blends perfectly into the landscape and has several terraces from which you must have a wonderful view of the surroundings. She has never seen a more beautiful place. Is this really a dream?   
When she turns back to the boy, he is now standing right in front of her. He has his features, even the same nose, only his eyes are not so sad... Following an inner urge, she raises her hand to touch him, but he puts on a smile and says gleefully: "See you soon mommy!" _

Scared she wakes up. Her heart is racing and she is still in his arms. He's fast asleep and looks so peaceful... and not sad at all. Smiling, she looks at him for a moment. Carefully, she strokes a strand of hair from his face.   
The resemblance to the little boy is undeniable.

They had made love several times the previous night. Like two drowning people they clung to each other and lost themselves again and again in each other.  
Silently she gets up and goes into the bathroom.

In the shower she must think of the little boy again. He looks so much like him... Is it just dreams or...  
If only she knew his name...   
Do you think she should ask Ben about it?   
She wonder how he feels about children.   
She wonder if he wants kids.   
Does she really want children?

She thinks about it for a long time as she rinses the foam out of her hair.  
When two hands are placed on her hips, she is startled for a moment. With a laugh she turns around and kisses the man who has just woken up. He lifts her up and carefully presses her against the shower wall. This time he is more gentle and she avoids scratching his back while they make love. Under crackling warm water they enjoy their lovemaking.

"Shall I help you with that?"   
It takes a moment for her to realize that he's spoken to her. In surprise, she turns to him.  
"What did you say?"   
He puts on his shoes and looks at her with concern. She's tying her hair, and until a moment ago was lost in thought about the little boy.

"Excuse me, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?"   
Without another word, he goes up to her and stands next to her. She stands in front of the mirror and ties her usual three braids.  
"What's the matter?" He's calm. Slowly he pushes her aside so that her back is to him and starts tying her second braid. He looks at her through the mirror.

She hesitates, but eventually she tells him.   
"Do you want children?"   
On her words he accidentally pulls a little too hard and she goes, "Ouch!".  
"Sorry..." he says embarrassed and straightens her braid. For the next few minutes he concentrates on her hair and doesn't say a word.   
She waits.

As soon as he's done, he takes her by the hand and pulls her from the bathroom to the table. She lets him sit on one of the chairs without comment and watches him put a chair directly in front of her and sit down. All the time he looks at the floor. He remains silent for a few seconds and then grabs her hands. They look so small in his.   
Then he looks directly at her.

"Rey... are you pregnant?"   
She looks at him in disbelief. Is it panic?  
"No... I'm not."   
He doesn't move. She's starting to worry. What if she really is pregnant someday?

"Ben?" she asks, carefully. He looks down and remains silent. Oh, man! Is this really panic?  
"Ben! I'm not pregnant! Will you please look at me again and answer my question?!... Although your reaction speaks volumes..." 

He can clearly see her disappointment.  
"Do _you_ want some?" he asks instead of answering.  
"Well..." there's your problem... she doesn't know... but she keeps thinking about the boy in her dream... if it was a dream.

"Don't get me wrong..." he starts off calmly.  
"...I really want to have children with you... It's just that... until we're married... a pregnancy would..."  
"I see..." she says, exhaling visibly reassured.

"Well, what about you?"  
Oh, right... he had asked her the same question.

"Well... I think I want children... I've just never had much to do with children..." She looks down embarrassed.  
"I just don't know if I'm cut out to be a mother..."

Carefully, he puts one hand under her chin and pulls her head up.  
"At the risk of sounding presumptuous... I think you'll get there. You're still young, Rey... and we have so much time left! “  
She smiles gently.

"Maybe we should have talked about this before." he suggests. Now she looks away again.  
"Come on...! Let's find you something to eat!" he says and stands up cheerfully. She watches him briefly as he turns off the lock on the door again.

"What would you have done if I was pregnant?"   
He looks at her attentively.  
"Dragged you to the nearest priest and married you immediately!" he returns dry. She gets up and sighs with a twisted sigh.  
"How very romantic!"

On the way to the canteen he tries to grab her hand again. And like every time, once he catches her, she pulls him away.  
"Stop it!" she giggles and the next moment he pulls her into his arms and holds her tight.  
"But what if I don't want to?!" he murmurs seductively to her. One moment he looks deep into her eyes... there it is again... that overwhelming feeling of closeness. Shortly before they kiss, some storm troopers march past them and they break away from each other embarrassed.

Silently they walk on and now and then they give each other short shy looks. When they turn a corner and the canteen is in front of them, they can hear a loud tumult... singing... and a voice that sounds familiar.

In the canteen everyone is sitting around a table where several Twi'lek girls are sitting and... singing.   
There's also a Twi'lek with a pale purple complexion...   
The singer of Xervos!?   
Rey notices again what a beautiful and pleasant voice she has. The other girls sitting around her and singing in the choir with her are the dancers. Why are they here?

She looks reproachfully at Ben, who without her question says: "Oh no! Do not look at me like that! I'm not a part of this and I'm just as confused as you are."  
"Why are they here?" she asks.  
"Maybe we'll ask your chambermaid..." he says and points to the Twi'lek, who stands next to the singer and starts to sing along the next moment.   
Both are surprised... Sairah once said that she does not sing. She can't even remember if she has ever hummed in her presence or anything like that. And now she stands there and sings with a beautiful clear voice on Twi'leki.

Rey must smile. She feels that it is a good thing that she can sing again...  
But the look that Ben gives her makes her insecure. He's almost startled and then... his eyes go soft and... is that a tear?  
"Ben!" she says cautiously and touches his arm.  
"I'm sorry... I'm just realizing... I never really paid attention to the Twi'lek on the base... they were just there."   
Now he smiles too.

"When I visited the house of her former Master at that time, it was not yet clear whether he would join the First Order or not. He offered many treasures to me and my men. He sent us pleasure slaves and one of the girls sang for us. The master had always boasted that he had a trustworthy Twi'lek at his side who could teach him the 'gibberish' as he  
Twi'leki, translated. So he did not understand a word she was singing. They had noticed that I understood her. Then in the lyrics of her song she hid a cry for help... ...drawing attention to the abuses in his house. It was very bold what she was doing. All the other slaves became nervous and you could see the master's interpreter wrestling with him... but he kept his mouth shut and waited for my reaction. When she sang that the Master never intended to surrender to the First Order... Well, let's just say I had good reason to burn down his house. I took his slaves away and put them on my base. The interpreter kept trying to convince me that he wanted to create a small village with some of the former slaves off base... To get rid of him, I let him do it..."   
He must have really pissed him off, Rey thinks.

"But I lost sight of the girl who was singing... and now she's standing there singing about yko'lek and Oo'rha." (The legend of a pair of lovers on Ryloth... did not end well...)

"Sairah has freed them all!" she says softly.  
"Yes..., looks like I sent you a little freedom fighter as a chambermaid..." he says smiling and has an idea at the same moment as she does. They look at each other briefly and nod.

For a while they listen to the song. At some point he goes to a chair, sits down and pulls her onto his lap.  
"What are they singing?" she asks softly as the melody gets sweeter and sweeter and more heartbreaking.  
Close to her ear he whispers to her: "They sing about a legend of Ryloth. It is said to have happened before their moons glowed in the red light of the sun. Ko'lek and Oo'rha came from opposing clans and ventured too deep into the cave systems of their homeland. When they first met, it had been like a fire. Their love burned instantly and they couldn't part from each other anymore."   
A light blush steals onto her cheeks and she smiles. Sounds a little familiar.

"But they were captured by their clans and parted by one another. And they came to the surface and found each other there. In a heat storm they died arm in arm and their souls were joined forever."  
"That sounds sad!" she says gloomily.  
"But in each other's arms they found peace... I can think of no better end than dying in the arms of the woman I love more than anything else."   
They look at each other in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To precede the question that I have been asked in Germany at this point... NO! Rey is not pregnant. XD
> 
> The legend of Ko'lek and Oo'rha on Wookiiepedia:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ko%27lek
> 
> Okay, um... I read the explanation of the legend of the two loving Twi'lek on Wookiiepedia... It's different in some parts from the german version... Sorry for that!
> 
> I wish you all a nice weekend. 
> 
> Stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	12. The Last Planet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is the next destination of their journey that Ben keeps so thoroughly secret?

They hardly notice that the Twi'lek are applauded as soon as the song is finished. But Rey shyly sees Sairah stepping on them. She slips off him and sits down on her own chair. Rey leans her head on her crossed hands and waits. Ben whispers to her that this is her business... ...because it is _her_ chambermaid. For a moment she looks at him from the side and then concentrates on Sairah, who is facing her and stares with reddened cheeks at the hands that are cramped in her lap.

"They could not stay there..." she begins.  
"Hmmm." Rey just says.  
"and... they're not slaves anymore... but..." now she looks up and there are tears in her eyes.  
"...they're still treated like second-class citizens there. They have the right to leave the planet, but they don't know where to go. Most of them have been sold into slavery by their own families, and they cannot return to Ryloth.... I've already contacted Tahe Lou, and he'll be happy to include them in the community... and if you must punish me..."  
"Sairah!" she interrupts her friend upset. She shrugs and looks humbly at her fingers again.

"So really...! _Shzocka!_ " she shouts angrily.  
The next moment Rey feels stupid for saying this Twi'leki word in the presence of so many Twi'lek. All eyes are on her and Ben, who is studying some reports on a data pad Ti'es gave him, looks up to her as well.

"Why the hell should I punish you???"  
Slowly the young servant looks up at her.  
"Don't you think I would've done the same thing if I'd had my head on straight?"   
"You are not angry with me?" she asks timidly.  
"No!" Rey replies angrily.  
"But I haven't told you a word about it and..."  
"Like I said, I was busy with other things... and even if you had stolen them as slaves from their masters, you think I would send them back... Whoever wants anything from them has to go through me first!" 

With tears in her eyes, Sairah jumps up and falls around Rey's neck.  
"Just... next time you plan such an action, at least let me know that I can protect you in case of emergency!" she says in a subdued voice to her shoulder.  
"Sure...!" she says and wipes the tears from her eyes.

Afterwards Sairah introduces the Twi'lek to her.  
Roh'lett, that's the name of the beautiful singer, is the only one who speaks her language and is looking forward to meeting others... with other free Twi'leks. When one of the girls asks for Rey and Ben and if they are man and wife... some of them don't like Sairah's answer. Every now and then the word "Shzocka!" slips out. After which Rey and Sairah have to smile slightly every time.

Later on, the crew members of the falcon also join in. The Twi'lek girls have already spread out and are talking to the soldiers who can talk to them on Twi'leki. Ben sits next to her and is absorbed in his reports, which Ti'es always gives him with little comments on them. Every now and then he puts his hand on her thigh so that no one can see it and strokes it lightly. 

Poe and Rose tell cheerfully about their adventures with the falcon, where they have been everywhere and what monsters they have escaped only by a hair's breadth. Only Finn and Chewy keep quiet.

She can still ignore that Finn doesn't like Ben and that he occasionally gives him brooding looks. Only Chewbacca... he has not forgotten what happened at Starkiller Base. A bit off the beaten track he stands leaning against the wall and stares at Ben. 

Whereas Ben has no eye for it. Something else seems to demand his attention. One of the reports doesn't seem to meet with his approval and at some point Rey starts to overhear the quiet conversation between Ben and Ti'es.

"...saying there's nothing more to be done... The data is lost forever... Sir!"  
"We'll just have to start it without..."  
"But, sir..." Now Ti'es talking extra quiet.  
"...if we can't provide the data, you'll be blamed and hated..."  
"Then so will it..."  
"But, sir...!" the soldier will object.  
"Stop it! Ti'es make sure everything is ready!" Immediately he replies, "Yes, sir!" and hurries away.

"Did you get enough?" he now asks less quietly and turns to Rey, who flinches caught and cannot prevent her cheeks from turning red again.  
"I wouldn't have to listen if you would just tell me what's on your mind... You remember what happened the last time you hid something from me..." at the last words she puts a finger on his chest.  
"That's a strong argument!" he says, brooding and pushes her finger off his chest.  
"Why won't you tell me where you're going next?"  
"You don't need to know yet, that's why!"  
For a moment she thinks about the little boy in her dream and how much he looks like him. He didn't want to tell her too much either...  
"Hey!" he says softly.  
"Don't let you spoil the surprise!"

"Sir!" An officer shows up behind him and tells him they'll drop out of hyperspace in just under an hour. Sairah gets up and says, "That's my cue... come on Rey... we gotta get you changed!" 

Rey's mood falls immediately to the basement and she puts her head down in the neck groaning.   
"Are you coming with Rose?" asks the Twi'lek, who now grabs Rey by the arm and wants to force her to stand up.  
"I'd love to!" Rose also stands up, grabs Rey by her other arm and helps her to pull her up. She is not very enthusiastic and protests loudly that two against one is totally unfair. Together they make their way to Rey's room.

The men look at them amused. When Ben turns around again, a tight Finn looks at him. He stares back... until the officer demands his attention again. He's wanted on the command bridge. With a quick nod to Poe, who also gives him a quick nod, he gets up and wants to leave. But then he sees Chewbacca's gaze.

He has known him since he was a little boy. Before he was sent to Uncle Luke... he was his friend. When his parents fought... or were _busy_ , it was Chewbacca who took him along and taught him how to fly a speeder... or steer the falcon... or how to use a blaster... taught him his language and showed him other things his parents would never know. He confided in him when he had his own concerns. He didn't want to leave his parents back then... he didn't want to get away from his friend Chewbacca... and now... with that look he'd been staring at him before... when he was... murdered Chewy's best friend... Han Solo.

For a moment, it felt like the wound that Chewbacca inflicted on him was hurting again... A faint groan goes away and he walks away without a word.

"Man! You two are really bad for business!" Poe grumbles to Finn and Chewbacca after Ben has disappeared.  
"He's our employer, so stop looking at him like he's trying to steal the love of your life, because he already has." That was for Finn. "...and would you please stop staring at him like he's your enemy! In case you haven't noticed... he is no longer our enemy! Get over it!"  
_"I wasn't looking at him like that!"_ Chewy says in his own language.  
"Yes, you did! He looked like you'd just given him a blaster shot. I think he was in pain..."  
"Probably because Chewy actually blasted him once." Finn says calmly.  
"Oh really, when was that?" Poe asks naive.  
**"When he killed his father!"** Chewy says with a loud roar and leaves the room.

"You look beautiful!" remarks Rose with admiration.  
"She looks beautiful in any dress... if she'd only see it for herself... and not pout so much. Sairah moans.  
Then Rey rolls her eyes. 

Sairah is just about to do her hair. Many small braided strands of hair she has tied together into a bun. The dress she is wearing is a nice golden yellow, off-the-shoulder but with very light straps. And with long and wide sleeves. The fabric is embroidered with many small purple flowers, which Rey really likes. The upper part is a corset and laces her bosom upwards, which gives her an attractive décolleté. From the hip it goes smoothly down to the bottom. Again a dress, in which she must not forget to lift the hem, because otherwise (like every time) she will fall flat on her nose.

But also Rey has to admit that she cuts a fine figure in this dress... but it's not her way of admitting it. So she continues to put on her pout. She only has to smile for a moment when she thinks that Ben will like the dress. Immediately she sulks again, but she can't stop herself from turning red.

"What is the name of the planet we are going to land on?" she asks casually.  
Sairah does not react except that she herself turns her eyes for a moment.  
But Rey does not give up yet.  
"Rose... do you know where we are going?" she asks next.  
"Oh no! Rose will not tell you anything either...! There, finished! Let's go to the bridge, then you'll see for yourself!" the servant suggests and already opens the door.

While dressing and hairdressing Rey had asked again and again, whether hidden or in plain sight, to which planet they were flying to now. But no one had wanted to tell her this secret. Although she had the feeling that Rose was hiding something else from her.

On the way through the spaceship Finn, Poe and Chewy join them at some point. After the boys, in vain, tried to tell her how beautiful she looked, they went on together towards the bridge.

Once there, the former resistance fighters are stared at suspiciously by their former enemies.  
Except for Rey... the soldiers and officers have already gotten used to her presence, especially after word got around how she treated Armitage Hux and what she promised.

There he stands, as usual, with his hands behind his back and has an officer give him a report. At the end he says thank you and turns to the newcomers.  
"There you are! Come here..."  
With a look at her pouting face he adds: "Ah fine, so she didn't tell you where we're going!"  
From Sairah (who was obviously meant) comes only a contemptuous snort.

But already when he turned to her for a moment she noticed that something was wrong. Slowly she walks towards him (, she only forgot to lift the stupid hem once) and stands next to him. He is agitated, she can feel that very clearly. With her left hand she touches his cheek and pulls his face towards her. She could almost believe that he was crying.  
"Ben?! What is it, what's wrong?" she asks softly.  
But his face remains inscrutable.

He stares at her for a long time, then a smile forms on his lips. He grabs her wrist with his left hand and her hand with his right. Then he brings it to his mouth and gives her a kiss in the palm of her hand.  
"It's nothing, I promise!" he says with a calm smile and gives her another kiss in the same place.

"Come on. We're about to drop out of hyperspace."  
Together, they continue to move forward.  
In the next moment the spaceship stops and they float in front of a big blue planet.

"What planet is that?" she asks quietly.  
"This is where you always wanted to go. I've put this place at the end of our first journey on purpose."  
The next moment it clicks and she exhales in astonishment.

"Is this...?" she asks with a bright smile.  
"That is Naboo." he says slowly and smiles with her. She had always wished to visit this beautiful place. Ever since she found the old picture book she had found in the crashed Star Destroyer on Jakku. 

And then the scales fell from her eyes...  
_"You know that already!"_ said the little boy... Yes, she knew it already... or she should have suspected it.

He makes her happy... ...a great joy.  
Slowly she turns to him and takes his face lovingly between her hands. Silently she whispers: "Ben..." but then she feels it and turns her head back towards Naboo... A presence. A strong and familiar presence is on the planet.  
"This is the second surprise," he says happily.  
Overjoyed, she laughs at him, gives him a quick kiss on the lips and then runs past him towards the command shuttle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dears!
> 
> I hope you are having a nice sunny weekend.  
> At this point again a very dear thank you to all readers and comment writers.
> 
> And once again the translation of the word 'Shzocka', it means 'outrageous'. I made it up myself. ^^°
> 
> Have a nice day, stay healthy.
> 
> Your Lori ❤️


	13. Encouraged to love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey land on Naboo and meet old and new friends.

They land in the Falcon on Naboo.   
On the way down, Rey felt like a bouncy ball inside. She could have been jumping up and down for joy the whole flight. But even now, she didn't want to grab Ben's hand. I guess some things never change.

When the ramp finally opens, she is the first to get out and runs quickly outside. And there she stands. Smiling joyfully, she holds out her arms in greeting.  
"Leia!" cries the young woman to greet her. The former general of the resistance takes her in his arms and holds her for a long time.

She missed her so much.   
In the past few months she had thought so often of asking for her advice. But each time she didn't...   
She won't be able to hang on her skirt all the time in the future, even though she appreciates her advice the most.

"I'm so glad to see you safe and sound!" Leia takes her future daughter-in-law's face between her hands and gives her a loving kiss on the forehead. Rey beams over both ears. 

Then Ben approaches and bends down to greet his mother and also gets a kiss on his forehead. He smiles happily, too, but for a moment his mother seems to be able to recognize that something has just saddened him. When she looks into his eyes, her face forgives herself for a moment, but seems to be able to catch herself again quickly.  
She greets the others and leads them from the hangar place to a small footbridge at a river.

On the way there Ben tries to grab Rey's hand again. She repeatedly removes it, and Sairah, Rose and Poe behind them start giggling softly. Also Rey and Ben can't stop themselves in their little game, a giggle. When Leia notices this, she suddenly turns around, looks at them seriously and says in a stern voice: "Stop it right now!"   
They both blush, nod surrender and follow her embarrassed.

At the jetty two boats and a group of people stand ready to greet them.  
"Ben! Rey! May I introduce the Acting Queen of Naboo...?" she points to a (still very) young woman in a long heavy robe, with an elaborate black wig and a white painted face.  
"This is Queen Apaila of Naboo." (derived from the name Apailana, she was queen at the time of Padme Amidala's death and was executed by the Empire after she had given refuge to surviving Jedi by Order 66) 

As if in unison, they say: "It is our pleasure!", which, as always, makes all those around look up. In fact, they never practiced that. It happened on their first stop on Coruscant. But this time even Leia seems to be astonished by their synchronisation.

Queen Apaila is very friendly and explains to them that they will go by boat to cross the river through the city.

Theed is characterized by the natural waters that run through the city like a small delta, as well as by the beautiful gardens. It is very famous for its distinctive architecture and Rey thinks she recognizes some pictures from her old picture book. Countless green domed roofs in all sizes and shapes stand close together without seeming piled up. And every now and then the uniform green is slightly loosened up by reddish gable roofs. All in all, it is a beautiful place.  
The people standing here and there on the shore wave to them joyfully and Rey smiles back at them.

"As you have asked, the first thing we will do is to visit the sacred burial temple," Apaila says to Ben, matter-of-factly. He gives her a nod and thanks her just as objectively.  
Rey looks at Leia and she doesn't seem to have known anything about it either. Uncertain, she wonders why he wants to visit the funeral temple of all places.

It lies at the edge of the city and directly next to one of the big waterfalls. When they land Ben helps her and his mother to get out of the boat. It is a big round temple, with an open roof. Behind it, it is connected to the Livet Tower by a bridge over the Solleu.   
Apaila explains to them that the deceased are burnt in the temple two days after death and their ashes are scattered into the river on the bridge afterwards. According to the Naboo belief, the life energy of the dead is thus returned to the planet. 

An eternal light burns in the Livet Tower, which is supposed to remind of mortality and reminds us to live in harmony.  
On both sides of the temple there is another building. On the right side there is a small house with a dome, which probably serves as storage. And on the other side there is a kind of pavilion.

Rey is captivated by this small pavilion. But before she can concentrate on it Leia calls behind her: "Luke!"   
She follows her gaze and next to the temple stands Luke Skywalker and seems to have been waiting for them.  
Everyone is amazed at his sudden appearance... except Ben. They nod briefly and the old Jedi Master joins them. With a short smile he greets his sister and she asks him confusedly what he is doing here.   
"The future king of the Grey Alliance asked me to come here." he simply replies.  
He respectfully greets Queen Apaila and the rest of her entourage, as well as the crew of the falcon.

But Rey doesn't notice any more of this. The small pavilion gains her attention again. She stares at it spellbound and before she even notices, her feet bring her there. It literally calls to her... something is there that she should see. 

Sairah, who stands near her as usual, tries to speak to her softly but Rey does not hear her anymore. Before she can go after her, she is held back by Ben. He cannot perceive it, but he can feel that she is attracted to it. After a short apology Ben, Leia and Luke follow her slowly.

When Sairah carefully asks the queen what kind of building this is, she answers: "This is a memorial for a former queen and later senator of Naboo. She died during the Clone Wars. She was very popular with the people and in imperial times, someone had this pavilion built for her."  
"What was this senator's name?" Rose asks. "Her name was Padme Amidala."

Rey has already reached the pavilion, and from there she has a magnificent view of the far reaches of the country. Rolling hills covered in green grass. Something called her here and in front of her is a stone tablet with the words _In memory of Padme Amidala_ engraved on it. A little further down there is a strange sign engraved with stars, circles and lines. Underneath it is written in even smaller letters _Encouraged to love_

Rey squats in front of it and carefully stretches out her hand to the small sign. As her fingers touch the cool stone it happens all of a sudden. She dives into a vision. Next to her stands a person dressed completely in black. She is startled and takes a step back. Then she hears it...   
In her first vision on Takodana she had heard it before... that artificial breathing sound. Even then, it seemed threatening and scary.   
Only this time... it seemed weaker... slower and... suffering. As if the person behind the mask was suffering terrible pain. 

The figure turns to her and she suddenly realizes the deep sorrow that emanates from this man. It catches her with a blow and tears come to her eyes.

"Rey!" in one word she is pulled out of the vision. Ben stands a few steps next to her and looks at her with concern. Behind him Luke and Leia appear. As soon as she looks at the memorial plaque again the black figure has disappeared. Suddenly she feels tears rolling down her cheek and wipes them off her face, noticing how much her fingers are shaking. She trembles all over her body. This experience has shocked her deeply.

With big eyes she looks at Ben, who comes towards her and takes her in his arms. He can feel how upset she is.  
"You saw something?!" it comes straight from Luke. He looks at her carefully. Rey just gives a shaky nod.  
"You saw him... Vader!"  
Leia looks at her brother and then at Rey in shock.  
"Is it true?" She asks softly. But Rey doesn't answer her. She stares at the stone tablet again. Ben pushes her away and looks at her closely. With a fragile voice Rey slowly says: "There was so much pain..." and the next words she looks Luke straight in the eyes. "...so much sorrow!"  
With her eyes lowered, she quietly whispers, "He must have loved her very much."   
No one says anything and Rey starts to feel uncomfortable.

"What does the sign and words 'Encouraged to love' mean?" she asks, pointing to the bottom of the panel. Luke and Leia look at each other questioningly, but an answer comes from the other side.   
"No one really knows."   
Queen Apaila stands at the entrance of the pavilion and looks at the small sign.  
"Padme Amidala was much loved and cherished here, but... ...but no one knows who had this pavilion built for her or... ...or what the words inside mean."   
Slowly, she steps a little closer, keeping her eyes on the tablet.

"I am aware that you are the descendants of Senator Amidala." she says, clinging to Luke and Leia. Both nod. Apaila looks at her closely for a moment, then she continues in a calm and firm voice: "After her death, the Empire announced that she was murdered by two Jedi... The queen, my great aunt, Queen Apailana, never believed this. She was a close friend of Padme and offered protection and refuge on Naboo to those Jedi who survived Order 66. In return, the Empire had her executed and made it look like an attack by deserters."   
Rey can tell by the way she blinks her lips at every word she says

"In Senator Amidala's time, the Jedi were always friendly to us. When the Trade Federation raided our planet with an army of droids... it was two brave Jedi who saved us from their attacks. One of them lost his life and was buried here in the Temple. No Jedi would have attacked her."

"What were the names of the two Jedi?" Leia asks nicely.  
"They were Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and his Padawan disciple Obi Wan Kenobi."  
"Ben." exclaims Luke in surprise. Questioningly, the queen looks at him.  
"My old Jedi master... when he lived on Tattuin, he called himself Ben Kenobi..."

The queen smiles a little, then turns briefly to Ben and then back to Leia.   
"If you have more questions about Senator Amidala, perhaps someone who knew her personally can answer them."

On the way back to the boats Rey sees a man standing next to the funeral temple. He is wearing a long brown coat, like Master Skywalker, has longer hair and a beard. They look at each other for a moment and after the strange man nods at her with a smile, Ben speaks to her and she looks away from him. When she turns back to the stranger, he has disappeared and a queasy feeling spreads in Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow there will be two chapters again. Until then I wish you a nice Sunday and stay healthy!
> 
> Yours, Lori ❤


	14. Broadberry meadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who will they meet that knew Padme Amidala? And what does Luke want to talk about with Rey?

Sairah as well as Leia did not let Rey out of their sight on the way. Her serene joy over the beauty of the city had given way to the horror of her vision.

But she continues to smile bravely as they drive through the city again and the people wave to them happily.  
For her it was a shock.  
Her own words once described Darth Vader as the most hated man in the universe. Also for them he always was an enemy, especially because the memory of him kept Ben imprisoned on the dark side for so long...  
But to see him like that... so suffering and desperate for his terrible loss. He had this memorial built to his great love.

Ben kept track of it for the rest of the trip. She had cried and even now her eyes looked slightly swollen. Leia had handed her a cloth on the way to the boats to wipe away her tears.

He had also noticed that she had seen something before the funeral temple. On this planet he would have to take good care of her, since she seems to react incredibly sensitive to memories here. Perhaps, he thought, he should return her to their base before he... But no, she was so looking forward to visiting this place, he would not take it away from her now. And sure something would turn up soon to lighten her mood. He was sure of that.

As soon as they leave the river, guards escorted them along the Palace Plaza to Theed Palace. Compared to the other buildings, it is much bigger, but this also makes the cityscape of Theed look so pleasant that only a few houses are really built high.  
In the palace, they are shown around a little and they are assigned some rooms. (and yes, Ben and Rey have separate bedrooms again) After a short lunch, where neither Ben nor Sairah complain that Rey doesn't touch a bite, they meet again with the Queen, who guides them through a painting gallery.

They are portraits of all the kings and queens who have ever ruled Naboo. Apaila tells them that each ruler is chosen fairly by the people and that the wisest person would be chosen. Queen Amidala was only 14 years old when she ascended the throne and her ancestor Queen Apailana was the youngest queen in Naboo history at the age of 12. 

Rey notices that she always speaks of the two queens with the greatest respect and reverence. She seems to adore them both very much and she also shows similar feelings towards Leia. 

The picture of the queen Amidala doesn't really show much of her. It can only be assumed that she was very pretty, because she was drawn with a face painted just as white as many other queens. But one thing can be recognized immediately, her big eyes, which radiate an unrestrained courage. Leia looks at the picture of her biological mother for a very long time and she obviously has to fight with the tears, because her own eyes start to shine strongly sometime. Only Luke does not appreciate the image of his mother at all. Stubbornly he looks at the ground and keeps himself in the background. Ben also seems to have noticed this.

After visiting the gallery of the rulers the queen leads them into a kind of conference room. There they are already expected. C3PO, R2D2 and BB8 stand in the middle of the room and talk to another yet unknown figure.  
"This is the representative of the Gungens, Jar Jar Bings." Apaila introduces him. Jar Jar Bings is a lanky, aged Gungent, with long robes and friendly eyes.

"Hello!" he greets them with a smile and a wave.  
"Mesa his Jar Jar Bings. Mesa very happy to meet you!" This time it's only Rey who answers him properly. Ben is... too shocked at the absurdity of the figure standing before him.  
"I'm delighted as well!" she returns smiling. Even Luke and Leia just look at him with big eyes.  
"Jar Jar!" the queen begins.  
"They are, the future King of the Grey Alliance, Ben Solo and his Queen Rey."  
"Just Rey?" he asks straight out and in a high voice.  
"Yes, just Rey!" says the person he's talking to.  
"Well, mesa here to ensure cooperation between the Gungent people and Grey Alliance. Gungens will be very pleased to deal with descendants of Senator Amidala." His way of speaking takes some getting used to but Rey likes him instantly.

"Jar Jar! I took the liberty of telling them that you knew the senator and also the jedi who saved our planet that day."  
The man throws his head back in surprise and looks at the group.  
"That is correct! Mesa knew Jedi Master Qui Gon, Obi Wan and also Anni."  
"Anni?" Luke asks in surprise.  
"Yes, Anakin Skywalker! Mesa known Ani since he was a little boy. Meet my Ani on the desert planet Tatooine. Have you been to desert?" he asks Rey, who answers with a grin:  
"Yes, once before."  
"That his mui mui horrible place! Only sand... aaaaallover! No water! Meesa prefer water and swamp!"   
"I like it better when it's green too." returns Rey beaming.

"Jar Jar, these two here..." interrupts the queen, who seems to have less patience with the Gungen, and points to Luke and Liea. "...are the descendants of Senator Amidala... and they certainly have some questions for you."

With a small excuse that important affairs of state would claim her, she leaves the room, leaving Ben, Rey, Leia and Luke behind like Sairah with the Gungens representative.

"Hmm!" Jar Jar embarrassed. "Mesa yousa baked some tea from gungens, mesa pour you some... taste muy good..." but he doesn't get to pour it anymore, on the way to the tea tray, which is standing on a small table, he knocks the tray over and the dishes together with the steaming tea fly backwards in a high arc... but it doesn't get to the ground. Rey reacted fast enough and held the dishes and the green liquid in the air by the force.

"Uuooohhhh!" Bings is amazed and looks at Rey with fascination.  
"Youse be a Jedi too?"  
"Kind of." Answers Rey shyly.  
"Oh! I'm so sorry... inconsolable meesa!" Bings almost pleads for this and other apologies, but Rey remains calm and waits for Sairah to bring the dishes from the air back to the tray and the table. Then she lets the green steaming liquid float back into the pot and looks at the still wildly apologizing Gungen friendly.

"That's not so bad! Look! My servant Sairah has also dropped something once or twice and she too has apologized to me without ceasing. But I will tell you the same thing as she did. That can happen!... No need to get upset! Everything is alright again. Don't take it to heart Jar Jar!" with the last words she puts a hand on the excited Gungan's arm and he calms down again immediately.  
In fact, he looks at Rey with a melancholic look and says sadly: "You remind me of Padme Amidala..., she were my friend... She were people with a hugely good heart. I am very sad... ...when she died. She was my best friend."  
"And I am sure that you were a good friend to her too!" says Rey cheering up and smiles at old Gungen, who has tears in his eyes.

"If it is all right, I would pour the tea," suggests Sairah who is already getting ready to fill five cups. She hands one to each of them and then stands a little aside again.  
The next moment everyone, even Rey herself (except Jar Jar Bings) wishes that she had simply let the green liquid spill out. The tea is disgustingly bitter and leaves such an unpleasant aftertaste that everyone has to pull themselves together not to spit it out again.

After the terrible tea Leia sits down at the conference table with Jar Jar and lets him tell her the story of how he was allowed to meet Padme Amidala. And again Luke stands aside and does not follow the conversation. Instead, he walks towards Ben and Rey, who are just looking at each other.

"Can I kidnap your fiancée for a while? I'd like to speak to her in private." both look at him in shock. But Ben eventually nods with a shrug of the shoulders. When Rey and Luke go to the door, Sairah wants to follow them faithfully and Luke again hairs on his face: "Just in private!" Rey doesn't like this at all. She steps up to Sairah and builds herself up in front of the Jedi Master.  
"I'm going to tell her everything anyway!" and pulls her out with her by the hand. Luke just rolls his eyes in contempt and mumbles something about "woman thing".

Outside the palace they walk between some houses towards the river. They are not far away from one of the waterfalls. At a small landing stage they get into a boat and cross the river to a small park. Luke explains to them that they are on the Broadberry meadow. A small triangular park, which is situated between two waterfalls and offers a breathtaking view of the surrounding landscape. Rey goes to the outer edge of the cliff and looks into the distance. Sairah stands a bit away and watches the ducks on the river as they plaster the seaweed on the bank.  
Luke stands next to them and also looks into the vastness of the land.

"Naboo is a truly magical place. No comparison to a desert like Yakku?!"  
Rey does not react to the clumsy attempt to start a conversation.

"He has changed! That's the first thing I noticed... And you've changed too..."  
Rey is looking right at him now.  
"You are really on your way to becoming a queen now... When you play-out that hux in the throne room... I thought you were just playing the ruler. Your speech that you gave back then about redemption and injustice... impressed the others, but I assumed that you were faking it.

"Very nice!" Rey reacts dryly.  
"After all, back then you didn't even dare to sit on the throne properly, if you remember. But now... If the stories about Padme Amidala are true, Bings may be right and you really do resemble her a lot. The kindness you've shown him... it's been a long time since I've seen anything like that."

Rey is ashamed of his words and turns back, embarrassed, to the view over Naboo.  
"But with all the changes my nephew has already made with you... he still needs to take a step..."  
"What step is that?" Rey asks suspiciously.  
"Only he knows... and I'm sure Ben knows exactly what to do. He only has to find the strength to do it..." he says quietly and looks into the distance again.

That worries her.  
What kind of step is this?  
What does he want to do?  
Can she help him?  
Help him how?

"This is something he has to do all by himself! You can't help him for once!" he tries to appease her.  
"I want to be there for him." she confesses calmly.  
"But you are!" he replies.  
"Since you filled him with your light." Rey looks at him for a long time. Then she looks straight again. Tahe Lou had said something similar about her, that her light fills him.

"Why do you turn away from the memory of your mother?"  
It's a question that's been burning in her mind ever since that painting gallery.  
"You are mistaken... I have no memory of my mother! As you probably heard, she died when we were born. I didn't know her."  
Rey keeps looking at him expectantly. He looks ahead. For a while, they remain silent.

"I always knew that she was a wonderful person... but anything more would only make me sad... to see how beautiful she was... to learn that she was like Leia or to hear that she died... because her heart was broken... I don't need that! I carry enough burden of the memory of my father already.  
He lowers his head in sorrow.  
"Leia carries our father's deeds with her as a stain... Even Ben does, and if you married him, so do you. But what am I saying? Ben carries his own faults."

A subject they never talked about. On their travels, Ben was often ostracized because of his past actions, especially on Chandrila, which must have hurt him especially because he was born and grew up there.

"But you'll do it." says the old master, turning to go.  
"Just please do me a favor! Don't name any of your children after me... or Leia!" he turns again as he walks.  
"Or Padme or Anakin!"  
Rey must be laughing.  
"Don't worry." she says with amusement. Then she casts a last glance over the beautiful view and enjoys the gentle wind that blows towards her. And suddenly... _"Mama?!"_ carried by the wind, the voice of the little black-haired boy from her dream blows to her.  
Rey suddenly becomes dizzy and wobbles. Sairah is with her in time and supports her. And again she trembles... like she did when she saw the vision in the pavilion earlier. 

She heard him... ...her and Ben's son...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to have somehow met the strange way of talking from Jar Jar. I used to enjoy writing his dialogues...  
> I hope that not too much was lost in translation...


	15. Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Rey's dizzy spell, she and Ben can finally talk and confess things.

After visiting the Boadberry meadow, Sairah immediately took Rey to her rooms and persuaded her to lie down for a while.   
Something similar had happened to her before. When they wanted to visit the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Rey had collapsed crying in front of the steps of the impressive building. She had begged Ben to never take her there again. Even before she had entered the temple, she could already hear the desperate cries of the people begging for her life in the night of Order 66.

Every time she has such a vision, it hits her emotionally and weakens her. Her general lack of sleep does not necessarily help. But this time it was different. Every vision she's had so far has been a memory... the memory of a place. But this time...   
Why did she have dreams about her future son... she's not pregnant!

Sairah had taken her aside two days after her first night with Ben and given her a certain preparation that prevents unwanted pregnancies. Since then Sairah has been supplying her with it regularly. And also Ben said that he only wants children after they are married. But then there is this boy... and she doesn't even know his name... shouldn't she know his name... when he's gonna be her son?!

She senses him coming closer. He's upset... for her. The door to the bedroom is closed and she knows that the crew of the Falcon, like Sairah and Luke, are sitting together in the room behind the door and talking quietly.  
"Where is she?" she hears his muffled but distinct voice after he enters the room.  
Rey lies with her back to the door and looks out the window to the blue sky. Silently, she hears the door open and close again.

"What are you doing?" he asks quietly as he lies down with her and pulls her back to his chest. But Rey does not answer yet.  
"How do you feel?"   
His mouth is close to her ear and his voice causes her stomach to tingle again. With a little smile, she replies, "I'll be okay."

"I have something else to tell you... Because I didn't want to take the surprise away, I had to keep it from you until now."  
Rey turns and looks him in the eye with interest.  
"You'll spend some time on Naboo. Tomorrow you'll go to the lake country. I hear it's very beautiful there and my mother's family... or rather, my grandmother's family has a house there. Varykino... the pearl of the lake country. There are many beautiful spots and you can..."  
"Don't think I haven't heard the _you will..._ ...where will _you_ be when I go to Varykino?" she interrupts him angrily. 

She's got him all figured out.

"I'm taking the Millennium Falcon to MΛ."   
Rey has to think back for a second. She had heard that name at the very beginning. It's where Ben sent all his troops after the Supremacy was destroyed.

"The main base of the First Order?!"  
"Yes.  
"Why?"  
"To disband the First Order forces."  
"You want to do what?"  
"It's been planned for a few months. The people are no longer to view the stormtroopers as aggressors, restricting their freedom. They're being completely restructured. With new uniforms less reminiscent of clone troopers' armour, Imperial troops, or even the First Order. The troops of the Grey Alliance are to bring peace to the universe. Every soldier who was snatched from a family as a child should be given the chance... to live a normal life."

"What is this data that's been destroyed?"   
Ben looks at her with raised eyebrows. She had overheard the conversation with Ti'es on the ship about the destroyed data, but she hadn't really found out the context. 

Again and again he is surprised by the high level of perception of his girl.

"Before the destruction of the First Order, the former General Hux destroyed all data about the soldiers and above all, from where and by whom they were kidnapped. We can no longer trace where they came from."

Taken from a family he never knew... ...is how Finn once described himself. He, too, would never find out where he came from or who he was with.   
Hux really did the most damage with that punch.  
"Ti'es is right, all the hatred that has built up in the soldiers will be unloaded on you... ...just because you tell them they will never know where they came from."  
"Then so will it!" he barely says.

"Oh, Ben! I could go with you and..."  
"No, you spend a few good days here. Sairah and Rose will stay with you and so will my mother and Luke."   
"Mmmhhh!" makes her stubborn. Ben smiles.  
"I thought you made up with my uncle... What did he want from you anyway?  
Rey thinks back for a moment to the conversation, especially to the part with the flaws the three of them are carrying around with them. And soon she will, too.

"He mentioned that he noticed a change in you... I think he apologized in his own way... and, uh... he asked me not to name our children after him or your mother or your grandparents."   
At her last words, she turns right back to him and laughs. He gets into her laugh and looks at her with a gentle look.

"Ben! What happened on the ship...? On the command bridge... i had a feeling you'd been in some kind of emotional shock or something."   
Exhaling deeply, he puts his head back.  
"I was hoping you wouldn't notice... or just forget."  
"Even your mother noticed that something was wrong... What was it?"   
He's silent.

"I'll take a wild guess and say... it has something to do with Chewbacca."   
And again he looks at her in surprise. How on earth does she do that?  
"How did you...?"  
"I saw the look in his eye in the canteen." She interrupts him.

"Yes... he hates me and I can understand him..."   
Rey can feel that there's more to it than that... that alone wouldn't affect him like this.  
"...but it hurts... Do you know that Chewy was once my best friend?" he asks and looks directly at her again. "My mother was on the road a lot and... my father, too... and then there was always Chewy... the great Chewbacca. He took me along and taught me to fly a speeder or the falcon... how to shoot and he taught me his language. I spent a lot of time with him and he taught me a lot of things that... well, let's just say it's good for his health that my mother doesn't know about it."   
There's that smile of his that she loves.

"Sounds like you used to be alone a lot."  
"Just not when he was around."   
Then the smile disappears again. He's lying on his back now, holding her by his side. One hand is on his chest, gently touching hers.

"And then my mother decided Luke should train me as a Jedi... I never wanted to be a Jedi."   
"What?" she is surprised.  
"Yeah, sure, it sounds cool as a kid. Your uncle flies through the universe spreading peace and balance with his Force... but no one tells you about the hardships you've endured... No family, no relationships, no love... I wanted it all."   
He looks at her with glowing eyes and gently caresses her fingers.  
"I've always wanted to start a family... but I was a stupid boy and all I knew was I didn't want to leave my parents or my friend Chewbacca. He was the only one I confided in... I could always tell him everything... but he couldn't help me, and then I saw him again as..." 

She knows when he saw him again...

His hand slides from his chest to his side, where Chewy had met him after he had killed his own father, Han Solo...  
"I can understand that he hates me. But it's... is hard."   
At the last words, his voice breaks and he turns his head away.

Rey puts her head on his chest and never says another word. She wants to help him so much, but she doesn't know how. When he killed Han, she hated him too. They never talked about this much before. Slowly she feels tears coming up and wants to change the subject, because her own grief won't help him at this moment.

"Do you have an idea for children's names?" she asks in a firm voice.  
He seems to be frozen, but then wipes his back of his hand briefly over his eyes and looks at her urgently.

"I am not pregnant!" she reacts annoyed.  
"But I would like to know."   
And it works. He can't help but laugh a little.  
"To be honest, no... This is the second time today you've brought up the subject..."  
"You yourself said that we should have talked about it before, so..."  
"Yes, but only because when we get to that point... we bang like rabbits." he says with a smile and suddenly turns on her. She's under him now and he's got one leg between her thighs.

"Ben Solo! Next door, family and friends can hear us!" she blames him as he begins to kiss her neck.  
"Then we'll just have to be quiet!" he whispers between kisses.  
"Ben! Ben! Really!" she presses out, embarrassed. But he stops. Leaning on his elbows, he looks at her and enjoys the redness of her cheeks.

"I haven't thought about kids' names yet, just... we don't have to name the kid but we could call him that..."  
"What?"  
"Grey!" She needs to think about it for a second and then feel it's right.   
"I like that."   
He smiles and with a kiss, he lowers himself back on her.

The kiss is long and intense. It's like he's putting all his love for her into it. All his hopes and dreams for the future. Like he said, he doesn't want to give up anything. Family and love. And he wants it all with her. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him even closer.

...but eventually they break apart.  
"We should really stop here!" she says slightly out of breath as he starts to spread little kisses on her neck and shoulder.  
"Sairah will surely come here soon and remind us about dinner."  
"Mm-hmm!" he goes on and on the other side of her neck.  
But he has to stop now, before she can't think straight. So in her desperation, she reaches for one last straw.

"Or your mother's coming in!" she says, slightly piqued.  
And it works. Immediately he stops and she can feel his _mood_ go down completely.  
Without another word he rises and lets her get up too.

With a probing grip in her hair she has to realize that her hairstyle could not stand up to his impetuosity.  
"Come here! I'll do that!" suggests Ben, who is still sitting on the bed watching her. After a searching look into his eyes, Rey sits down on the bed with her back to him. Carefully, he begins to pull some clips out of the bun. At some point the small plaits hang over her shoulders.  
"If you open my hair again, you will have a problem with Sairah!" she threatens him.  
But he does not react and takes all the little braids and ties them together like a ponytail.  
"It looks a bit more relaxed and playful.

Then he puts her tied and braided hair over her left shoulder and whispers quietly into her ear: "I like that your hair has grown longer."  
With his chin he gently strokes her bare shoulder and she must giggle softly. He has a slight three-day-beard and it scratches her a little.  
With a glowing look Rey turns to him.  
"Stop chewing on your lower lip!" he murmurs.  
Gently he moves his thumb over her lips.  
"Why not?" she asks and briefly kisses his thumb. Slowly he comes closer again.  
"Because I want to do that!" Just before their lips touch, they pause again. Smiling, they register that Sairah is actually coming towards them. Like in a choir they call out to her before she enters the bedroom: **"We're almost there!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a nice start to the week!  
> Stay well!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	16. The night before departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben enjoy their last night together... and you know what that means...NSFW warning XD

In the end, the visit to Naboo is only there to show Rey the planet.  
The Naboo have already completely taken sides with the proclamation of the Grey Alliance. At least that's what the queen's advisors mention now and then at dinner. Only the Queen herself is delighted with her guests. Especially on Leia she's made a fool of herself. She hangs spellbound on her lips when she tells about her foster father Bail Organa.

No one seems to consider the presence of Jar Jar Bings as a pleasure. Only Rey does not see his clumsiness as a weakness exclusively. She likes to talk to him. He has had many adventures with the Jedi during his time as a senator. Only when the subject comes up on Anakin Skywalker or Padme Amidala, he becomes silent and his eyes are marked by sadness.

Especially the queen seems to have little patience with Bings. Rey suspects that she has already been embarrassed by the one or other clumsy incident.

The next day Ben would fly with Poe, Finn, Ti'es and Chewbacca with the falcon to MΛ and Rey, the twins, Sairah and Rose would be brought to the lake country with a Royal Transporter. On the way there, they would drop off Jar Jar Bings in the swamps. From there, he will make his way home to the Gungen Underwater City.

At Rey's request Poe agrees to leave BB8 with her. In return they would take C3PO and R2D2 with them.  
Rey likes to have the little astro droid near her. When she found him, her life really began. And he led her to Ben (albeit via detours).

For most of the evening, Ben holds her hand under the tabletop as usual and gently massages the back of her hand with his thumb. Satisfied he notices that her appetite has returned. Only the Naboo wine she does not touch. Since that night at De'ostres she hardly touches any alcohol. He has to smile for a moment when he notices that her thoughts have landed on De'ostres and that her cheeks have turned a slight red tinge.

Luke caused a small sensation during the meal. In his cape a little Porg was hiding all the time. The porg, attracted by the fried fish, suddenly shot out of his coat and wanted to jump onto one of the plates on the table.   
As in reflex, Rey catches the little guy in flight with the help of the Force, lets him float to her and sits him on her lap. There she holds him for now and listens to Luke's explanation that the little guy has lost his parents in a storm and Luke has found him as a porglets and raised him. Since then little Porg can't part from him anymore and Luke forgets from time to time that he still sleeps in his coat.

Ben watches spellbound as Rey hands the whining Porg a piece of vegetable on her lap, which he vehemently rejects and is only satisfied when she hands him a large piece of fried fish.  
Smiling, she watches him try to swallow the whole piece of fish. 

"Does he have a name?" she asks Luke.  
Luke just looks at her stubbornly and answers: "He is a Porg... he does not need a name...! Ah! By all the Force! Do women have to give everything a name?"  
Rey ignores his outburst, holds up the lively Porg for a moment and later decides to find a name for him.

Later in her room, Rey has made a small nest out of her blanket for her new friend and put him inside to sleep. For a moment she watches him cooing happily as he rolls up in his nest.

With a slight impatience she hurries into the bathroom and freshens up a bit before she makes her way to Ben's room. If they won't see each other for more than two weeks, they should use this night as best they can. She can feel that he too can hardly wait for her to finally come to him.

With a light cloak over her shoulders she is about to open the door when Sairah comes towards her.  
"Oh...! Where are you going, if I may ask?" she asks interested.  
"You'r not allowed to... But if it satisfies your curiosity... I'm on my way to Ben... after all we won't see each other for a while" she says slightly annoyed.  
"Oh yes... speaking of which! Did you know about his travel plans?"  
"No!" the Twi'lek replies equally annoyed.  
"Ti'es also told me just now. He and Master Ben were afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep quiet about you. Needless to say, we had a big fight afterwards...!"  
"Oh Sairah...!"   
Smiling nicely, she kisses her friend on the cheek, wishes her good night and runs away. Rey secretly hopes that they will make up for this night, as they both soon realize that two weeks can be very long.

Once in his room she can't find Ben at first. But she hears the soft crackling of the shower and walks towards the bathroom. Once there, she unbuttons her dress, puts away her coat and shoes and gets into the shower with him naked.  
In fact, he was busy thinking about other things and only notices her when she lets her hands slide from behind over his belly to his chest.

After a short fright he puts his hands on hers and holds them against her.   
For a moment they stand there under crackling warm water and enjoy the mutual closeness.

At some point he guides one of their hands over his chest, down to his belly and even further to his semi-rigid limb. There he gives her hand free rein and watches her grab his cock and carefully ride up and down it. She gives him light kisses on his back.

Then she forces him to turn around and presses him against the wall. He keeps a close eye on her as she gets down on her knees and takes his penis in both hands and continues her careful massage.

She never knew about this before but Sairah, after begging for a long time, had told her how to satisfy him with her mouth.  
She gives the tip of his penis a tender kiss and then licks it once from the root to the tip where she can taste a first drop of his sperm. 

He breathes audibly harder as she slowly takes him into her mouth. Rey assumes that he is huge, compared to other men and Sairah had advised her not to take it too deep into her mouth at the beginning because otherwise she would have to fight her gag reflex, which can prove difficult the first time.   
So she continues to massage with her hands the part that she does not dare to put completely into her mouth. Meanwhile Ben puts his head back into the neck and breathes louder and louder until it becomes a moan.

Very carefully he puts one hand on the back of her head and she gets bolder and takes his stiff member further into her mouth. She pushes her lips back and forth and very easily she lets her teeth pass over them, which makes him gasp even louder.

In time he puts his other hand on her head and caresses her thoughtlessly. With one hand he still guides her slightly. At some point Ben feels that he can't hold it much longer and will explode at any moment.

"Stop it!" he almost screams. She stops automatically, lets his cock slide out of her mouth with an indecent plop and looks at him with big eyes in shock.   
Right now she's wondering if she just did something wrong. But he just pulls her on her feet and out of the shower. With a towel he dries her off in a hurry and drags her back into the bedroom. But before they reach the bed she stops abruptly and forces him to look at her.

"Ben what's wrong? Did I... did I do it wrong?"   
The man she is talking to is still breathing heavily and has to hold back not to take her bent over the next piece of furniture.

He takes her head in both hands, gives her a short but very clear kiss and then says slightly hurriedly: "You did everything right... Totally right. I just want to... I don't want to come in your mouth! So would you please go to bed?!"   
Rey is still a little freaked out, but a slight hint of pride comes over her. She's really taken him a long way. But she's not going to make it that easy for him.

"Nope!" she says and goes back into the bathroom.  
Ben looks stunned after her.  
"Rey!?" But she doesn't answer.

As he follows her, he finds her in front of the mirror, where she wants to start to open her hair. She has already opened the big braid and now she wants to tackle all the little braided strands falling over her shoulders.  
There he stands now, with a swollen erection and his girl wants to open all the little plaits first.

He understands... she wants to play. But she can have that. With a cheeky grin he goes to her, stands right behind her, so that his cock presses against her bottom.  
Without another word he almost reaches her waist with both hands and then goes down to her sex with one hand. 

"Don't we want to deal with that first?" he asks and pushes two fingers between her already wet slit.  
As he brushes her clitoris, a slight gasp escapes her.

She stops moving in her hair and wants to pull his hand away, but he is unyielding. After a very short time his hand is covered with her excitement and she can't stop moaning. Then he pushes two fingers into her and massages her sensitive pearl of desire with his thumb. She gasps out loud.  
"Oh, Ben! That... Oh, Ben, it's not fair!" she squeezes out, almost incomprehensibly.

Without warning he takes his fingers out of her again and pushes her to the next dresser. There he grabs her by the waist and puts her on it. During the following kiss he bites her lower lip slightly and then conquers her mouth with his tongue. She is completely at his mercy and simply cannot resist his treatment.

She already thought he would enter her right here, but the next moment he sinks to his knees and continues to work on her sensitive middle with mouth and tongue. Her legs are already above his shoulders and a hand has gotten caught in his hair. With the other she rests on the chest of drawers.

Accompanied by uncontrolled moaning, she calls his name, over and over again, until she is carried away by a violent orgasm. With a loud scream, all her lust unloads.

After he has continued fucking her with his tongue through her orgasm, he stands up again and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. But even now he does not sink into her. He pulls her down from the dresser and turns her around. Then he pushes her upper body forward on the chest of drawers and spreads her legs further apart. Before she can even protest, he is inside her. With a strong push he has taken her over-humid cave and squeezed all the air out of her lungs.

With relentless thrusts he conquers her and drives her almost insane. With his right hand he grabs her left shoulder and holds it in position while he hammers into her more and more violently.

As if through a veil, she realizes that the chest of drawers wobbles when he moves and some of the utensils he had not yet swept down fall over or roll down on the top. The sound of her moaning and panting fills the room and he feels that her next orgasm is already building up inside her.  
With his hand, with which he held her at the hip just a moment ago, he slides under her, finds her clitoris and stimulates her with two fingers. With a scream a wave of ecstasy is released over her and sweeps her mind away.

Breathing heavily, she only notices on the edge how he pulls himself out of her and takes her in his arms. He also breathes much heavier but looks at her with a slight mischief in his eyes. She knows exactly what he expects. He hasn't come yet and slowly she admires his steadfastness... or she fears it a little...

"All right, you win. We can go to bed."   
Smiling, he presses his lips against hers as he carries her back to the bedroom.

Rey lies as so often with her head on Ben's chest and listens to his soothing heartbeat. Right now she is happier than she has been for a long time. (Oh yes..., he has made her very happy... over and over again!)

He caresses her gently over her still braided hair.  
"Where did you get the scar on your arm?" he asks into the silence and touches her upper arm, on which a scar is marked. One might think that two hands are almost touching. Rey looks sleepily at her arm.

"I see..." she starts muttering. "I got this when I was fighting Snoke's crazy guard."  
"Against the elite Praetorian Guard... that's the first time we fought together..." he says with a smile on his lips.  
"Yahhh!" she breathes and runs her hand across his chest to his neck.

"Even though it sounds strange... but the mark looks beautiful."  
Rey gets up and looks at him sleepily.  
"What strange pillow talk!" she says irritated.  
"I'm sorry... it just occurred to me." he calms her down and strokes her upper arms with his fingertips.  
She lies down on his chest again and closes her eyes.

They remain silent for a while and Rey suddenly asks a question that she had wanted to ask him since her conversation about Chewbacca... but hadn't dared to speak up.  
"How was your time in Luke's Jedi Temple? Did you have friends there?"   
She immediately regrets asking.

But Ben did not seem hurt by the question...  
"Not really... I've never been good with people... I've just been meditating a lot... and I had Snoke's voice in my head all the time and... I was homesick... I think so." 

Rey is getting wise.  
"What do you mean? You think so?"  
"Well..." he starts yawning. „... I was unhappy with everything... my parents had sent me there and I couldn't even talk to them about it... I'm not even sure I wanted to go back to them now. Somehow... ...I always knew something was missing."

Rey can feel that behind his stammering there is an injured boy who was just unhappy.  
"I wish I could have been there with you..." she has to smile at her idea.  
But Ben also seems to find her idea funny, because his chest is made to tremble by a laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" she asks slightly annoyed.  
"Rey... you're so cute!"   
"Why?" she is now a little more annoyed.  
"When I entered the Jedi Temple, I was 13 years old and you were only 3!" Rey understands... but (once again) won't back down.  
"So what... I still would have been with you." she says stubbornly and straightens up again. Ben looks at her in silence for a while. Then he smiles and strokes her face with his hand.

"Maybe it would have been nice to have a little sister." he says calmly.  
Rey also thinks about it for a moment. She likes the thought. She lies down again and after a short time they finally fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and you will continue reading tomorrow.
> 
> Until then, please stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	17. A Porg called Drop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excitement on Sairah... Rey has disappeared again... but only for a moment...

_A thunder... no, it's a loud rush. Rey is awakened by the powerful sound of a great waterfall..._

_Awake?_

_She lies again on a green meadow amidst many small Kleeos blossoms. She sits up.  
There he is again...   
He's playing with BB8...   
What a cute picture._

_He looks at her with a giggle and greets her with a cheerful  
"Hello mummy!" Rey looks around a bit. She can't see the house from the other day... Apparently, it's behind one of those hills. Then she looks back at her little boy. She thinks he's about 4 or 5 years old._

_"Hello, Grey!" she says quietly and smiles back.  
"You remember my name?!" the little boy says in surprise._

"Were you dreaming?"  
Rey wakes up (for real this time) in Ben's arms. With reddened cheeks she looks up at him.  
"Did you see him?" she asks, still a little sleepy.  
"What? Your dream?! No!" amused, he looks down at her.  
"I can't enter your dreams... you have them all to yourself."   
His voice is marked by a slight melancholy.  
Rey suspects that every now and then he wishes he could dive into her dreams. She wonder what that would be like.

Sleepily she rubs her eyes.  
"Has the sun risen yet?" she asks, followed by a yawn.  
"Almost." he gives off quietly and strokes her small braids, which slowly hurt her.

"And how long have you been up?"  
"I've only just opened my eyes, too."  
"You're lying!" she says with a threatening undertone.  
"Not at all!"  
"Ben!"   
He is lying.  
"Well, I may have been awake a little longer and..."  
"...and you've been watching me sleep the whole time You creepy?" she asks in between.  
"You are very sweet when you sleep." he says and taps the tip of her nose with his index finger.  
"You know, that sounds kind of strange?" she asks back and touches his nose with her index finger as well.

"The noises you make are so cute, though!" he says with a slightly begging tone as if it was an explanation.  
"I don't snore!" Now she is a bit sour.  
"No one was talking about you snoring. But you... murmur... and sometimes you talk."   
"Oh yes, what am I talking about?" Now she's curious and embarrassed... She didn't know she talked in her sleep. She wonder what she said.  
"Well... it'll be my secret."

After what feels like an eternity, where they only looked at each other, Rey pushes the blanket off her and sits on the edge of the bed. Ben sits behind her and pulls her back up to his chest. With his lips on her neck, he whispers softly, "What's wrong?"  
"I should be getting back to my room... before the sun rises and the palace awakes."

Exhaling deeply, he raises his head and presses her closer to him.  
"I am glad we are finally married and can put this behind us."  
"Yes, but until then we have to play along!" she says and snuggles up to him.

After a short moment of being together they get up, get dressed and head for her room.  
In front of her door they give each other a long and extensive kiss before she says goodbye and disappears behind the door.

Rey is also tired of these early morning goodbyes. She has never understood it before. They love each other... they are going to get married anyway...! So why hide the fact that they already share everything with each other?

Arriving in the bedroom, little Porg, whom she had named Drop last night, is still lying in his nest and slumbering happily.  
Without waking him, she takes off her dress and goes into the bathroom where she takes a shower. Without getting her hair wet, she washes the last night off.

After drying, she puts on a simpler dress and begins to pierce her little braids. After, felt two hours, her hair is very wavy and she is thinking about leaving it open today. Let's see if Sairah agrees.

Then she looks at herself again from top to bottom in the mirror. She simply cannot see why Ben finds her so attractive. She doesn't find her own figure appealing, her breasts too small, her eyes boring and her shoulders too broad. But for all her faults, she likes the way he looks at her. With a slight smile on her lips she pushes her right sleeve higher and looks at the scar on her upper arm. She finds that it looks like two Droid grappling arms almost touching each other... or... like her hands... Ben's and her hand... touching lightly on Ahch-To. Yeah, she likes that part.

With quiet steps she goes back to the bed where the little drop just wakes up and blinks at her in surprise.  
"Well... Did you sleep well?"   
Then he jumps up happily and flutters right into Ray's arms. She gently rubs his neck watches him coo comfortably.  
Then she gets an idea. It's still early, and no one would probably catch her. So she puts her cape back on and runs out of the room with Drop on her arm.

She actually got to the landing site without any great problems. There it is, the Millennium Falcon. Without much ado, she walks up the ramp. Inside, she immediately goes to the drawer where she has hidden the Jedi texts. She puts them in a bag and puts it next to her battlestick. Meanwhile Drop sits on the small gaming table and watches her opening a hidden drawer and taking out light-colored cloth. She looks at it briefly and then puts it on the couch.

Meanwhile Ben is sitting in his rooms at breakfast and has Ti'es explain some reports to him. Until Sairah comes in the door. Stealthily she looks around the room.

"What do you have Sairah?" the future king asks curiously.  
"Um... Rey's things are packed and are already being taken to the hangar where our shuttle is taking off."  
She says nothing more.  
"That... is good?!" he answers slightly confused.  
"Okey then..." she wants to start when she turns back to the door.

"Sairah!" he interrupts her and forces her to stay.  
"What's wrong?" he asks very seriously. The addressed one takes a deep breath, turns around and looks at him with a desperate look.  
"I can't find her."   
There are almost tears in her eyes.  
"What?!"  
"She's not in her room... I've been to the others, but they haven't seen her either. She left with the Porg. And I can lickety-squitch the palace guards and alert them that our future Queen has moved out."

Ben leans back in his chair, sighing heavily, and covers his eyes with his hand.   
_Sometimes she really drives me crazy! Where the hell is she now?_

"Good, Sairah, Ti'es! Please leave me alone, she'll turn up!"   
After they both bow, they leave the room in a hurry.

Ben has to concentrate for a moment but then he can feel her again. As soon as he opens his eyes again there is a half-naked Rey in front of him, who was about to put on a light beige tunic. Over her sudden appearance she has frozen in motion and now looks at him with big eyes.

"If you had done this a few months ago, I probably would have screamed it all together!" she says dryly.  
"Where the hell are you?" he asks stunned.  
"I'm at the Falcon, changing... why have you established a force connection?"  
Her voice is calm and matter-of-fact. Yet she continues to stare at him.  
"Because Sairah couldn't find you... what are you looking for on the Falcon?" but his voice is anything but calm and matter-of-fact.

"As you can see, I am changing my clothes... and I want to take my battlestaff and the Jedi scriptures with me." she says and turns to put on her clothes again.  
"What Jedi scriptures?"   
"The ancient Jedi texts from the first temple on Ahch-To."  
"Why are these texts in the Falcon?"  
"Because I hid them there." she replies, avoiding all contact with him.  
"And does my uncle know that these old hams were hidden there by you?" he now asks amusedly.  
"As far as I know... he burned down the first temple... so I suppose he thinks they were burned... I'd better let him think so."

Ben keeps watching her wrap a long, almost white cloth around her body, like she used to wear on Jakku. Even back then he found these clothes very appealing. With relish he puts his head on one hand and watches her as she wraps a leather belt around her waist.  
She wears light, almost white ¾ trousers and a matching tunic with hood. The leather belt that wraps twice around her waist is brown and so are the cuffs that she has tied around her wrists. Above her scar on her right upper arm she also wears a brown ribbon. She also has light-coloured gauntlets tied around her forearms as usual. She now looks like a trained warrior again. This is the way he likes her best.

"Come and have some more food!"  
Ready dressed and with hair tied back, she walks up to him and sits down at the table opposite him.  
He wordlessly slides her a plate with fruit, vegetables and some pastry.  
Secretly he wishes Sairah a lot of fun to prepare the food for her in the next weeks.

After breakfast she says goodbye to him with a light kiss and disappears again. They would see each other one last time at the landing site. With a deep sigh he puts his face in both hands. Maybe he should have told her what he was really up to...  
But then she would never stay here. She would never let him go into a fight like that alone.

He glances briefly at the report Ti'es had just presented to him. It says that the Night Buzzard is on a moon near MΛ and that it seems to be waiting there...

He lets his gaze wander to the small bedside table next to the bed. There lies his sword... this cursed sword... with which he murdered his own father. Yes, they are waiting for him... for their former leader! He must go this way without Rey! He would never hand her over to them!

When he gets over that... then he can truly embrace his future with her.  
He only has to face these enemies... then he will finally be free... free of Kylo Ren!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those were the first hints of what's about to happen... or could happen. 
> 
> Have a nice week, stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	18. Rhe Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey leave Theed with different goals.

"How many times?! It's none of our business!" Poe groans annoyingly.  
"Yes, but he might as well fly in his Star Destroyer to his stupid troop base." Finn replies (felt for the thousandth time).  
"But he has ordered us to take him there... and in case you haven't forgotten, we could use such orders in the near future! So it's worth it, if we do such seemingly simple tasks for the future King of the Grey Alliance."

"Yes but do you know what he's up to?"  
 **"Noooo!"** Poe almost yells.  
They both just arrived before the Falcon. The pilot stops in front of the ramp and puts a hand on Finn's shoulder.   
"Listen... I don't really care what that guy is up to... I can't stand him myself either, after all he tortured me with his stupid force when he wanted to find out where BB8 is. But even if I don't trust him 100%... I trust Rey. Sairah told me about some weird force thing between them...  
A dyad force thing. I guess she can read his mind or something. So just relax and... better be glad that she's not there!" he suggests and buffs his fist against Finns shoulder once.

Finn looks at him with a wrinkled forehead.  
"Why should I be glad that she's not coming?"   
He would be happy to have her with him. Maybe he could make it up with Rey...  
Poe, who was already about to walk up the ramp, turns halfway around to his best friend and tells him with his shoulders raised: "I can't imagine that you want that cuddly couple around you all the time!".  
Finn keeps looking at him and then says in a dry tone: "Yes no! You're right." and follows him into the falcon.

Neither of them knows that they were overheard the whole time by Rey, who was sitting in the cockpit and had switched on Rose's eavesdropping system as soon as she saw them running towards the ship.  
Thoughtfully, she looks to the side and thinks briefly about what she heard.

Is Ben really planning something? They' re right, he might as well travel to MΛ with the Star Destroyer they've been flying through space with all the time.

Finn... that idiot still can't stand Ben. Fortunately, Poe is pragmatic enough to at least accept him.

**"Why is that Porg on the ship?"** shouts Poe from behind. Screaming, Drop comes fluttering to Rey. She quickly turns off the eavesdropper and catches the little guy in flight. Finn and Poe come running towards her and stop in front of her, terrified.

"What are you doing here?" Finn asks in surprise. Rey looks at him angrily, then turns her gaze to Poe and replies, "I was just getting some stuff out of here."   
"Oh yeah...!"   
Poe, who has noticed her obvious disinterest in Finn's question, decides to ignore it.

"Say, are there actually any other hiding places here that I don't know about?" he asks curiously instead.  
"I guess so... you must not forget that this ship once belonged to one of the most famous smugglers of all time... not even Chewy knows all his hiding places."  
"There are probably some secrets that should be kept secret, too." he replies in agreement.

On the way out, Rey grabs the bag of books and her battlestick. She skillfully ignores Finn's pathetic attempt to help her.

Arriving at the ramp, Chewy comes towards her and gives her another firm hug. He tells her that he took good care of her battlestaff and praises her new clothes, it dresses her very well.  
Rey strokes her way through the wavy hair. 

On the landing field Rose, Sairah and Luke are already standing, saying goodbye to Ti'es. As soon as Sairah sees the disappeared Rey, she runs towards her and rebukes her for not disappearing all the time. Rey is silent, but she knows that Sairah has always known where she was during the last months.

Also the others say goodbye to the ones who stayed.  
"Have fun on your little holiday and don't disgrace us, Rose!" Poe says at the end of his speech to the young technician, who with a hint of a smile just replies: "Funny, I was just about to say that to you."

Finn, who had tried to say goodbye to Rey a couple of times, finally gives up and is about to climb the ramp when he is held back by Poe, who whispers softly into his ear: "If you don't want the next girl to cut you... you should say a proper goodbye to Rose!"  
Finn realizes immediately and runs back to Rose with red cheeks. Arriving there he takes her in his arms (whereupon Rey and Sairah have a short look at each other) and apparently doesn't know what to do next... Rose, who mumbles the situation obviously unpleasant: "This isn't at all weird!"  
"Yeah... guilty!" stammers the former stormtrooper.   
He actually wants to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, but he catches her eye with his nose.   
"Ouch!" makes Rose.  
"Oh, boy! I'm sorry! I'm..., wait...!" he starts. But Rose waves him off annoyed and tells him to get on the boat.

Still with one hand in front of her injured eye, she stands next to Rey and Sairah and purses her lips.  
"Just don't say a word!"   
The addressed only look at her from the side with big eyes and have to refrain from laughing.  
Luke just rolls his eyes.

Then come Ben, Leia, Jar Jar Bings and the queen followed by two guards.  
Apaila politely says goodbye to Rey and Ben, she has to go back to the palace. But finally she mentions that she would be very happy about an invitation to the wedding and sets off.

To say goodbye, Ben gives his mother a light kiss on her hair and lets her kiss him on his forehead. Then Chewy joins them and takes Leia in his arms once more. On his way back to the ship he bumps into Ben's shoulder, apparently by accident.

No one says a word and Rey looks at Chewy shortly after. Then she stands in front of Ben, takes off her chain and puts it around her fiancé.  
"But I gave it to you." he says.  
"Then bring it back to me!"   
A gentle smile forms on his lips and he carefully puts his forehead against hers.  
"I want you to know..." she starts and has to hold back a few tears.  
"that I am very good at waiting."   
Her voice breaks at the last words. He puts his hand on her neck and pulls her towards him for an intense kiss.  
As her lips separate, he whispers a short "See you soon!" in her ear and walks towards the falcon.

He stops in front of it, thinks for a moment and then turns to her again.  
"What do you think of Chandrila?"   
Rey puts his head to one side in confusion.  
"For the wedding?"  
A wedding on Chandrila would be really nice. She likes the planet and he was born there.  
"Yes." she says softly and smiles at him. Then she closes her eyes and hears his voice in her head.   
_I love you Rey!_  
As soon as she opens her eyes again, the ramp closes and the falcon rises.  
Quietly and more to herself she tells him, "Yes I know!"

During the flight to the Lianorm Swamp or Lake Paonga in which the city of the Gungans, 'Otoh Gunga', is located, Jar Jar talks incessantly to Rey. He tells her about his home country, how happy he is not to be banished anymore and what a good guy the new boss is.  
She smiles, but only listens to him with half an ear.

She thinks about Ben the whole time. And she has to pull herself together not to accidentally make a force connection with him. Even though she's rarely done that before. Actually, only this one time, when she surprised him in the bath. Since then he must have learned to close his mind from her much faster. It hurt her a little that he didn't let her in, but they were hardly separated from then on.

Completely lost in thought she strokes little Porg on her lap.  
Then she hears it for the first time... a powerful deep scream. Everyone else in the shuttle looks around.   
"Oi oi oi! That sounds like huge animal!" Jar Jar throws into the sudden silence.

Arriving at Paonga Lake it is mainly Rey who says a friendly goodbye to Bings. He politely wishes her happiness for her upcoming marriage and her future life.  
When she re-enters the shuttle, she thinks for a moment that she has to take a quiet squeak... but then ignores it when she can't see anything.

Then they finally arrive in the lake country. They land on a place which is situated on a steep cliff. Below it is a large lake fed by many waterfalls. In front of the lake there is a huge green meadow. Rey can see unusual creatures on it. From a distance they look like oversized insects with legs that are much too small.

Carefully they walk down a steep staircase to a small landing stage. With a kind of gondola they are brought across the lake to an island. And there it is... the villa of the Naberie family... It's beautiful. Sandy walls, dome-shaped green roofs and gorgeous terraces. Everything here blends in perfectly with the landscape. Rey has never seen anything so beautiful... or as a matter of fact, she has... just from a different angle... and in a dream. If it was a dream. Here she met the black-haired boy Grey over and over again.

When they arrive, they are greeted in the entrance hall by the caretaker of the villa. She introduces herself as Tahneka Accu. She is a nice young woman who is probably a few years older than Ben is. She would take care of them for the next few weeks.

Rey feels comfortable here right away. It's like she's been connected to this place all along. Slowly she walks towards one of the terraces from where she has a wonderful view over the lake.

Carefully she touches the parapet and is suddenly haunted by violent feelings. 

Here in this place they were... Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker...  
In this place, they found each other.

Suddenly, she feels as if she is losing all the power in her body. Without further warning, her knees drop, and she falls to the ground.  
Before she hits the ground and loses consciousness she sees a beautiful young woman in a colourful dress and a young man in a brown robe. The looks they throw at each other speak a clear language... they love each other... and they are not allowed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, dear ones.
> 
> This whole thing with the power-sapping visions will be explained by Leia tomorrow.   
> So it's going to be exciting.
> 
> Best wishes, stay healthy,
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	19. Tooke, Shaak and Twirrl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey has arrived at Varykino. In order to control the power-sapping visions, she is to begin training with Luke. But her lack of sleep prevents that.

As if she emerged from deep water, Rey awoke from a solid, dreamless sleep.  
She lies on a soft bed. The room has high ceilings and equally high windows. Bright daylight illuminates one corner of the room.

She can feel that she is not alone.  
"How long was I away?" she asks Leia, who is sitting at a table reading one of the old books.  
"About two hours." she says calmly and raises an eyebrow.  
Slowly Rey straightens up. Before Leia on the table the remaining Jedi writings are spread out.

"Would you care to explain where you got them?"   
Rey swallows hard.  
"Does Master Skywalker know about this?"  
"No... and we better leave it at that. I believe he set fire to the first Jedi temples."  
"So I've heard."  
"Have you read this?" the older woman asks with interest.  
"Not yet. I left them on the Falcon when I went to Ben's house on Supremacy. Then I forgot about them. Chewy told me that Luke destroyed the temple after I left Ahch-To."

"Well, I've been reading up on some of your writing while you were recuperating. There is not much in here about your relationship with my son, but your strong sensitivity..."  
"What does it say?" asks the young woman, gets up and walks towards the table.  
"You can apparently capture the memories of places. It's a very rare skill. And it can be just as dangerous if you can't control it. The memories that you are picking up... are draining energy from your body..." Leia says worriedly.  
"And how can I control it?" Rey asks curiously.  
If there was a way to control this gift, she wouldn't faint every time she walked through this place, which is obviously full of memories.

"This can certainly be trained. With meditation, balance exercises and other things. We have two weeks here."  
Rey smiles shyly at her.  
"Luke will be able to help you, too. I think it would be good for him to have a job..."   
Rey smiles, but is not quite sure if she is looking forward to a training with Luke.

Varykino is even bigger from the inside than it seems from the outside. On her way through the corridors Leia tells her that there is a small village nearby where the housekeeper lives. The creatures she saw on the meadow are Shaak. Simple meat suppliers that are bred in herds here.

They enter a large room dominated by a wood-burning stove. In front of it there is a low table and around it there are many large cushions. There Sairah and Rose have made themselves comfortable. As soon as they enter the room they both jump up and inquire anxiously about Ray's condition.

"I feel better already... where is Master Skywalker, if I may ask?"  
"He's gone outside to explore the surroundings." Rose answers her question.  
"We can go to the beach later. I'm sure it's very nice there. We can teach you how to swim in the days ahead... Sairah told me that you didn't learn that properly from Ben." says Rose with a cheeky wink.  
"Sairah talks too much!" Rey answers calmly and dryly. This one looks to the side with reddened cheeks.  
"First, we're going to get something to eat. Tahneka has prepared something for us for lunch, she will surely bring it right away!" says the Twi'lek embarrassed.

"I don't think..." Rey wants to start, but is interrupted by Drop's screaming. He flutters towards her immediately and lands in her arms. Followed by Luke, he just comes in from outside.  
"Are you feeling better?!" he says cool to Rey and without another word sits down on one of the cushions in front of the table. The next moment, Tahneka comes in with a large plate of pastries. Sairah urges Rey to sit down. She politely thanks the housekeeper as she leaves the room.

After a short look at the plate she has to realize that she is, as always, lacking any appetite. While the others load some pieces onto the plate, Rey slowly pushes hers away from her.  
Even before Sairah can say a word Leia takes the plate of her future daughter-in-law and loads it wordlessly with food. Then she puts it in front of her and looks at her briefly and insistently. Rey swallows hard again and then just starts to eat. 

At this moment she has decided to avoid any quarrel with Leia.

Sairah finds this situation very pleasant... and secretly she asks herself if Leia will move to the base with them later.

Then Rey hears that little squeak again... Everyone looks up to Luke. Luke gets stuck in his movement and grabs his cape.  
"I forgot to tell you... we apparently picked up a stowaway from Lianorm Swamps."   
From his coat he takes a small rodent which he holds in his hand. Rey has to wonder what else he is hiding in his coat.

Drop, who sits on her lap, screams loudly and the little animal in Luke's hand starts squealing excitedly. It fidgets around strained and obviously wants to flee. With a well-aimed bite in Luke's hand it can escape and jumps over the table. "Ouch!" Luke says.

Before it can go any further, Rey catches it with his power in flight. Slowly, the fidgety little guy floats towards her. She lets it land on her flat hand and looks at it closely. A small round rodent, with cute black eyes, light brown fur, short front paws, strong hind legs and a long tail with a cute pussy at the end.  
It has its tiny ears erect when it first looks at Rey and then Drop curiously.

Very slowly she releases the force stare from him. Curiously it sniffs in Rey's direction. Slowly she takes a small piece of pastry and puts it on her hand to the little animal. After a short check he takes the piece in his paws and nibbles it away.

"Ohh... is that sweet!" Rose is enraptured.  
"Oh great, another little animal!" Sairah moans softly. Apparently, she has no taste for animals.  
"What is this?" Rey asks the group.  
"It's a Tooke... they normally live in the swamps." It came from Tahneka.  
She seems to have heard the noise Drop made.  
"They multiply like crazy. This one seems to like you, miss."

Little Tooke leaps from Rey's hand onto her shoulder and makes himself comfortable while she gives him more pieces of her pastry. Drop screams over and over again when she doesn't pay him any attention. And BB8, who is standing next to it, just beeps excitedly. 

The rest of the meal she's busy giving both Drop and Tooke enough of her food and eating enough herself because Leia keeps looking at her strictly from the side.   
_It's going to be a tough two weeks._

"Did you make friends with animals on Jakku too?" Rose asks her later as they sit on the shore of the lake and watch Drop and Nuck (as she call the little Tooke) chase BB8. A cute picture, it reminds Rey so much of...

"No... there are no such animals on Yakku... but BB8 and I once made the acquaintance of a nightwatch worm." she says cheerfully.  
"What is that?" Sairah asks sceptically.  
"It's a huge monster that moves through the sand and feeds on scrap metal."  
"A creature that lives on junk?!" asks Rose amused.  
"Yes, it has confused BB8 with its meal" says Rey and starts to laugh slightly.

She likes to be with them. Talking to them is surprisingly easy for her. And Sairah is also a little more relaxed around Rose. She promised not to annoy her with annoying clothes or hairstyles during the time at Varykino. In return Rey has to promise to teach her how to fight with the baton. She would be really busy during those two weeks. Maybe she'll be busy enough to get a decent night's sleep.

But at least on the first night, she won't be. Luke had intercepted her after dinner and told her that he was expecting her at the shore at sunrise and then left without another word.

Lately, he's seemed more and more rude to her... she's beginning to get the feeling that he has a problem with her.

At night she lies awake again in her bed.   
At the lower end of the bed she has made a nest for Drop with a blanket, where he now sleeps peacefully cuddled up with Nuck.

Annoyed she goes to the window and looks out on the lake. In the moonlight the lake shines beautifully. And then she's overcome... she misses Ben so much. She has spent nights without him before but this time she can feel the big space between him and herself. Lately they've been so far apart when she was on Ahch-To.

He will still be on the Falcon and will not have time to build a force connection to her. Tears come to her eyes and she gets dressed. Without waking the two sleeping ones she sneaks outside.

Quickly she runs to the shore, sits cross-legged in the dry grass and takes a few deep breaths. With time she becomes calmer. For a long time she focuses on her centre and her surroundings. She feels the grass, the earth, the water. Many creatures, fish and other larger beings live in the water. She can sense the Shaak herd and... and there's something else... there's an energy in them that's much stronger... And there's something else somewhere... a huge aura... but it's far away... Only it seems to be reacting to Rey.

For a long time she focuses on her surroundings and finds peace in meditation. Until she is startled by a throat-clearing sound. With a stiff neck she turns to Luke, who looks at her suspiciously.  
"How long have you been sitting here?"   
By now the sun has risen... how many hours has she been sitting here?!

Rey wants to get up, but doesn't manage to do it as elegantly as planned.  
"Okay, that explains everything!" the Jedi Master says calmly.  
"Perhaps we'll keep a secret from my sister that you did not spend the night in your bed."  
After stretching her tense joints, she begins her concentration training with Luke.

After almost two hours they go back to the villa for breakfast. Luke has absolutely no interest in messing with Leia, who is especially keen on making sure that Rey eats sensibly.

The rest of the morning Rey had to balance on narrow beams and avoid small stones that Luke throws at her. As with the course at the base, training was easy for her at the beginning, but as time went by her lack of sleep came back and they had to stop training at some point when Sairah came in and watched Rey's many wounds in shock as she fell down constantly.  
Sairah then forbids any further training after noon, which Luke only acknowledged with an eye roll.

So in the afternoon she sat down at the Jedi texts and tried to translate some of them. She wished very much that C3PO was here, because he could help her with certainty.

Before dinner Sairah and Rose took her to the lake and let her teach them some tricks with the battlestaff.  
Thus the days drag on. She is always occupied by somebody and therefore has hardly any time for herself. Even if she is well distracted during the day, she still can't find the peace at night to sleep properly.

Again and again she is plagued by nightmares. Every now and then she wakes up screaming and realizes full of panic that Ben is really not with her. One night she screams so violently in her sleep that Sairah comes running to her and has to wake her up. With tears in her eyes she clings to her friend and lets her calm down.

Also Luke and Leia notice how she becomes more and more powerless. After the fourth day Leia forbids any training that goes beyond meditation. Luke argues with his sister for some time, but then he has to give in. Meanwhile Rey has left the house and decided to visit the Shaak herd alone. Actually she always wanted to do that with Sairah and Rose. But at the moment she just can't stand anyone around her.

Her dreams weaken her and it's harder for her to stay friendly, especially when Master Skywalker is around.  
A long suspension bridge connects the island with the pasture where the Shaak graze.

When she looks back, she realizes that this is where she first met Grey in her dream. Everywhere the Kleeos blossoms are growing. She takes a few steps towards the Shaak. They have massive bodies, carried by legs that are much too narrow and also small heads.

They also seem to have no timidity at all. As soon as she goes a few steps further she knows why. A giant predator comes rushing towards her. Rey can immediately see that it is there to guard the Shaak. She stands still and lets the strong looking animal come towards her. Shortly before her it slows down and eyes her from a distance of one meter. When it comes closer, she gives him her hand and lets him sniff it. It has a brown fur, muscular long legs and resembles a cat. Tahneka had told her that the Shaak Keepers sometimes work with special cats of prey that protect the Shaak.

With a penetrating growl, the animal turns around again and ignores Rey. Apparently it no longer perceives them as a threat to its herd.

Rey continues walking along the meadow. The Shaak are absolutely harmless and also... boring. At the back of the pasture is a small slope that seems to lead to a waterfall. Rey feels attracted to this place.

The water masses bounce down thunderously. A fine humid fog is in the air here. Then she feels something... there's something behind the waterfall. And she has to think again about the secret lake on the base. At the edge she can step behind the water and reach a large cave. It's darker than outside but she can make out a figure on the ground. A long creature with big wings and a long broad tail. A flying animal that apparently has a broken wing. On its head, which looks more like a reptile, it carries a pointed horn.

Carefully she approaches the animal. It hisses at her briefly, but then lets herself be touched by her. Rey can clearly see that it injured its wing when it fought against another creature.

Very carefully she takes the animal in her arms and makes her way out of the cave. She calmly carries it back to the villa and places its head trustingly on her shoulder.

Once there, she immediately calls for Tahneka.  
"Oh! What have you got there? Is that... where did you find it?" she asks excitedly.  
"I found it on the Shaak meadow, it has a wounded wing."  
Tahneka helps her doctor the animal and lets it rest in a basket for now.

"This is a Twirrl ... But this one seems to be a wild one... ...why is it so quiet?"  
"Probably because I've calmed it down with the Force." says Rey thoughtfully and strokes the Twirrl gently over its back.

Of course Sairah is not very enthusiastic about the new animal. Although Rey has promised to nurse him back to health and then release him again, she still wants nothing to do with it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tooke  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Tooke/Legends
> 
> Shaak  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Shaak
> 
> Twirrl  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Twirrl
> 
> Nigthwatch worm  
> https://jedipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Nachtw%C3%A4chterwurm
> 
> There is no entry on Wookiiepedia for the Nightwatch worm.
> 
> Love Lori ❤


	20. A brief painful visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben can finally see each other again. But this meeting won't bring her the peace she so desperately needs.

The following days are pretty much the same for Rey. She still doesn't manage to sleep properly and her appetite is decreasing as well. Even Leia can hardly get her to eat enough anymore. More and more she withdraws from the others. Luke already has to give up training completely and her nightmares get worse and worse. Every time she falls asleep she wakes up a short time later, sweat-bathed and with a racing heart.

Instead of trying to sleep, she has changed her mind to study the Jedi scriptures in the night. At least the parts she can easily decipher.

The records of the dyad in the Force are indeed very short. It only describes as dual sound in the force and that it is a very rare phenomenon where a Force connection is established between two Force-sensitive people. Apparently this has not been observed for centuries. A power like life itself.

In a short section it is explained that the dual sound in the force can lead to the harmony of all being. Rey doesn't quite understand this, but she is sure that this connection with Ben was always intended.

And on the sixth night she feels his presence again for the first time. Ben has established a force connection.   
There he stands and looks at her with concern. After a short shock she puts the book out of her hand, jumps up and falls into his arms. They kiss for a long time.

As they separate for a moment, he asks in a harsh voice, "Are you alone?"   
She nods and puts her lips back on his. Then, pushing her towards the bed, he asks, "Is your door locked?"   
Again she nods, frees herself from his embrace and starts to undress.

They cling to each other like two drowning people. In every kiss and touch lies their despair at the separation. They hardly say a word and yet they share so much with each other.

Exhausted and still breathing heavily, they later lie arm in arm on the bed. Ben slowly pulls her spine up and down with his fingers. And Rey carefully strokes the dark shadows under his eyes. He is just like her.

"When was the last time you really slept through the night?" she asks anxiously.  
"When you were lying next to me at Theed Palace." he speaks softly.  
"And when was the last time you had a proper meal?" he asks and runs his fingers over her ribs, which come forward very slowly.  
Rey actually has to think for a moment. During the last meals she had always fed her food to Drop or Nuck when Leia wasn't looking.  
"Uh... I believe the day before yesterday..." she's a little insecure.  
"After all..." he sighs with a resigned sigh.

"How long can you stay?" she asks and feels her throat close. He breathes deeply and closes his eyes.  
"Not long enough!"   
She feels the tears rise to her eyes. Without another word he puts the blanket over her and holds her even tighter. Softly the tears roll down her cheek and he slowly strokes her head. After a short time the exhaustion has overpowered them both and they both fall into a deep sleep.

_Rey shivers. Why is that? It was warm in Ben's arms... She wants to go back there! It was beautiful there..._

_Slowly she opens her eyes and looks into a cloudless sky. She's in the Shaak pasture. As soon as she turns to the side she sees a small group of Shaak and... Little Grey. He squats over an animal lying on the ground and strokes it. Rey walks towards him and in the next moment she can see that the Shaak is injured in the leg._

_Suddenly Grey puts his hands over the wound and takes a deep breath in and out. Amazed Rey watches the injury of the Shaak disappear. Until it looks at his healthy leg and runs away._

_"How did you do that?" she asks as she looks after the animal.  
"But you know that! You taught me, silly!" he says cheekily to her.  
"That may be so, but you can still be nice enough to explain it to me, my dear one!" she says in a stern tone. Even if she hasn't given birth to him yet, she doesn't have to let her own son be so cheeky!_

_"Yes, excuse me mummy." says the little boy with his head bowed down.  
"That was a force healing. You once explained to me that you could transfer part of your life energy to an injured person... or animal... ...to another creature. That's really all... Dad can do it too..." he says well._

_Slowly Rey turns around to the mansion.  
"Is he still in the house?" she asks curiously.  
"Yes..."  
"Shall we go to the house?" she asks and gives little Grey her hand.  
He looks at her hand and thinks. Then he smiles at her and says: "Not yet!"_

_The next moment everything is black and Rey is alone. Everything is dark and a terrible emptiness surrounds her.  
She can't see him anymore... where is he... He must be somewhere!  
"Grey?!" she calls him calmly.   
No response.  
"Grey!!" Louder this time._  
 **"GREY!!!"** _she screams and falls further into the blackness._

In complete panic she keeps calling his name. He must be able to hear her!  
As if from far away she hears his name calling over and over again... but it's not her voice... and it's not calling Grey... it's calling her name, Rey!

And then there's a sound... a whimpering animal... she can barely hear it, but it sounds distressed. But the other voice keeps calling her name... why can't she stop? She is here... Then she finally understands... the whimpering sound is a sob and it comes from her.

She opens her eyes and feels the dampness in her face. Sairah has bent over her and holds her by the shoulders. Worried, she looks down at her and keeps saying her name and that she should calm down.

As in reflex, Rey straightens up and falls into her arms. Sairah holds her tightly and tells her again and again that everything will be alright.  
Rey's heart beats like crazy. She is in a terrible panic. And she knows why... ...he's gone... Ben has disappeared again... ...she was alone... and still is.

In the doorway are Rose and Leia. Like Sairah, they wear dressing gowns and robes and look at her with concern. Tears run down her face and gather on Sairah's shoulder. They spent what felt like an eternity until Rey could finally calm down and Sairah covered her up again.

But as soon as she has left the room Rey immediately goes into the shower, turns on the water and crouches in a corner. With her arms wrapped around her legs, she keeps bouncing back and forth and tries to shake off the terrible feeling of loneliness that his short visit left behind.

The next morning nobody talks about last night. Rey eats a few bites of her breakfast, then feeds Drop and Nuck and takes care of the Twirrl.

Afterwards she leaves the house without saying goodbye and heads straight for the Shaak pasture. When she arrives there she looks out for the tusk cat.  
The day before she had a short talk with the shepherd who told her that it is a tradition on Naboo to tame these animals and use them as herding animals.

The tusk lies relaxed in the grass and looks up at Rey only briefly as she approaches. Then she sits down next to the animal and lets it lay its head on her lap so that she can scratch it behind the ears, which it thanks her with a gentle purr.

So Rey sits there for a while and looks into the distance. Ben will have arrived at the base yesterday. As soon as he has gotten some privacy, he won't have wasted any time and will have made contact with her immediately.

He would come to her again tonight... only it costs her far more to have him with her that night than to be away from him all the time... (like a drug addiction)

After some time the tusk rises and runs to one of the Shaak, which is too close to the waterfall at the bottom of the slope. Without much feather picking, it shooed the animal back to the herd. Then Rey falls back into the cave behind it where she found the twirrl.

Slowly she walks towards the waterfall and strokes the tusk over her back as she passes by. It looks curiously at her as she climbs behind the water masses.

She likes it here... it is dark but she gets used to it quickly.  
She sits cross-legged in the middle of the room and concentrates on her breathing. The sound of the waterfall calms her down and she seems to have calmed down for days.  
She thinks a lot about Ben, her separation, the pain his last visit to her caused and about Sairah. She can always rely on her. She cares for her, just like Rose and Leia. Rey never had much of a family before but when she thinks about what it would be like... it sure would feel like that.

After a while she hears Sairha's voice again. It comes from the other side of the water. She seems to be looking for her with Rose. Slowly they arrive at the waterfall.

"She will not be here!" it comes from Rose.  
"I am here... behind the waterfall!" cries Rey outside.  
Short silence from outside.  
"Yes, you're probably right."  
Sairah answers at some point.  
Rey frowns.  
 **"Hey, I'm here!"** she says now much louder.   
Again no answer.  
Apparently you can't hear her outside but she can understand them clearly from inside. An acoustic phenomenon.

Quickly she gets up and wants to step outside to the two of them, but before she gets near the water Sairah continues to talk in a sad voice: "I slowly don't know what to do with her anymore...".   
She sounds very desperate.  
"I can hardly reach her anymore... and she is drifting away more and more."   
She cries.  
"She'll come around... She's just having a hard time with the break-up, although I'm sure you haven't either." says Rose comfortingly.

It's true... Sairah must miss Ti'es as much as she misses Ben. It hurts Rey that she is so selfish herself. Rose must also miss the others terribly.

"Well... yes, I do miss Ti'es but... Rey is even more difficult..."  
"Why is that?" Rose asks irritated.  
"Because of their special bond... they form a dyad in the force..."  
"What is that?" asks Rose.  
"It's hard to explain. Rey mentioned it once... I guess it's that they are in contact with each other over long distances and... and can see each other... and touch each other..."   
Rey can almost imagine how her friend became more and more embarrassed at the last words.

"Meaning..." Rose tries to deduce.  
"I suspect that he was with her last night." she says calmly.  
"But shouldn't that be a good thing?" Rose asks confused.  
"Normally, yes, but... they're both dependent on each other."

"Does that mean he's like her?"  
"I suppose so... when they first... well, when they weren't sleeping in the same bed... she got worse every day... like now. And with him it was the same. Loss of appetite and lack of sleep."

"That sounds awful!" exclaims Rose.  
"Well, that's why when they're together, they're the happiest people in the universe..."  
"I've noticed that... even back then on the basis of... When he looks at her... I don't know, but... there was something warm in his eyes every time he looked at her!"  
"Yes..." breathes Sairah.

"Let's go back. If she wants to, she'll come back!" Sairah says cheerfully.  
"But you'll explain it to the General." Rose asks laughing.  
Both leave the waterfall.

Rey stays behind and does not know exactly how to deal with this situation.  
But one thing she knows now... it can't go on like this. She can't get any further... she has to change something. And she knows exactly what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tusk cat  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Tusk_cat
> 
> Tomorrow there will be two chapters again and you will finally learn what happened on De'ostres. 
> 
> Until then, stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	21. Girls' Evening Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey enforces her decision concerning Ben and approaches Sairah and Rose again.

When Rey comes back to the house shortly after the girls, it is almost evening. In the fireplace room the others are already sitting having dinner. Everyone is silent as soon as Rey enters the room.

"Good evening..." she says shyly.  
"I am sorry I am so late, I have been meditating all day in a quiet place." she says simply. But Sairah smiles at her friendly and tells her to sit between her and Rose.  
Rey has to force herself but manages to eat more than usual. And also Leia is satisfied again.

In the night she leaves the Jedi texts for now and sits cross-legged on her bed with closed eyes.

Eventually she feels him again. Ben stands before her. She doesn't have to look up to know that he is coming towards the bed. As soon as he reaches out for her, she avoids him.  
"What...?" he's startled... She's never denied him before.

"Ben!" she says calmly. "I want you to leave." He remains silent.  
"If I can't have you whole, I want you to go. 

She can feel how much it hurts him, but then he's gone. When she opens her eyes, the room is empty.

With tears in her eyes she leaves the room and sneaks quietly to Sairah's room. There she slowly opens the door. Sairah is still sleeping but wakes up with a jerk when Rey comes closer to her. Sleepy, she looks up at her and briefly tilts her head. Only when she sees Rey's tears she really looks up.  
"Oh Rey..."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asks in a broken voice as the tears run down her cheek.  
"But of course!" replies the young Twi'lek, moves to the side and lets Rey get into bed.  
So they lie next to each other and hold their hands.

"Did you send him away?" Sairah asks calmly at some point. Rey just nods and closes her eyes.  
Carefully Sairah runs her fingers over her face and starts humming a soft melody.  
With Sairah's voice in the background Rey glides very slowly into a light sleep.

Even though she could not sleep through the night, the night in Sairah's bed was restful. Before her friend wakes up she sneaks back into her own room and gets into the shower.  
Just for today she would do Sairah a favour. She hates it right away but she trains her.

"Rey! What do you look like?" asks Rose wounded as she joins the others for breakfast.  
She's wearing a light-coloured, not quite floor-length dress with cut-outs at the shoulders, long sleeves and a kind of cape at the back. It is nevertheless kept very simple.  
Without paying any further attention to her question Rey sits down wordlessly at the table with the others.

"That dress suits you very well." Leia says into the silence. Rey smiles at her shyly.  
But Luke... She can't interpret his look.  
But she doesn't care. She will reserve this day only for Rose and Sairah. The _learn to swim right_ -thing sounds very interesting. Or they could visit the village.

Without anyone telling her what to eat, she puts some things on her plate and eats everything well. For Drop and Nuck she has to take more things to prepare a breakfast for them. Afterwards she asks Rose and Sairah to help her with the care of the twirrl. Together they change the bandages and give it raw fish to eat before they go to the beach together and talk about the beautiful places they have been.

Rey feels very comfortable around them and now enjoys every moment with them.  
Together they let flat stones flip over the water and decide that they want to start swimming lessons the next day, so that in the remaining days they can go to a small island in the middle of the lake and sunbathe.

Sairah confesses to her that she has ordered a famous seamstress for the afternoon.  
"Why is that?" Rey asks confusedly. Why a seamstress? Why for her? She has so many dresses... aren't they enough?  
"She is a very sought-after seamstress. She only comes here because she has relatives in the village. And because she knows she is to sew the wedding dress for the future Queen of the Grey Alliance."  
Rey's face clears up immediately. Even though she doesn't think much of dresses, she is very enthusiastic about everything concerning the upcoming wedding.

The seamstress is called Horsia Mekato. She is about the same age as Leia and is immediately enthusiastic about Rey.  
First measurements are taken and then comes the inevitable question, which Rey simply cannot answer. What should the dress actually look like?  
Luckily Sairah already has an exact idea what suits her and does justice to a queen. Rey just has to nod and let the woman work on her with a measuring tape.

But what nobody knew is that Leia knows the famous seamstress. Apparently they are still acquainted with each other from Alderen (where said seamstress once had to tailor an official dress for her).

As soon as Sairah leaves the room to get refreshments, Rey clicks and she grabs the seamstress.  
"I'm sorry to bother you but you have another dress to make!"  
"And for what occasion?" Horsia asks business-like.  
"For a wedding... for my maid's wedding! So for her, for her wedding... and she must not know about it!"  
"All right!" replies the woman to the unusual request.  
Rey just raises an eyebrow.  
"Oh, dear... I have received so many unusual requests in my time as a seamstress... this one is very tame... ...but I will need at least one of her dresses."  
"That's no problem, but I don't know anything about clothes!" Rey confesses shyly.  
"It doesn't matter love! I know how to judge her."  
Rey is glad that Horsia is so understanding and asks Rose to get one of the dresses from Sairah.

Later they all say goodbye to Horsia who is on her way back to the village.  
Sairah mentions that she invited Leia and Luke for dinner in the village and that the three of them would spend the evening alone. She also mentions that she gave Tahneka the evening off and got something special for the three of them. Rey can't imagine exactly what it is about, but she is very happy about an evening together with them.

When Rey and Rose said goodbye to the twins after sunset, Sairah is not to be found.  
"Tell me! Do you know what Sairah has prepared?" Rey asks the technician curiously.  
She just looks to the side and warbles a "Let me surprise you!  
As she stares after her, Rey is 100% sure that she is fed up with surprises.  
"Are you coming?" she asks back to her and seems to head towards the shore.  
Rey tugs her eyebrows together, but follows her wordlessly.

Sairah has set up a small campfire on the shore, with cushions, blankets, small food, glasses and wine carafes.  
"I thought to myself, how to enjoy the fresh air out here." the Twi'lek says happily when they join her.

It is indeed very pleasant to sit outside. To laugh, to chat... just being together.  
Rey likes to talk to the two of them. Rose tells about her escape from the holding cell of Canto Bight. How she and Finn rode on a Fathier and ravaged the town with the herd.

"Tell me... what I always wanted to ask you Sairah! How did you get to the First Order anyway? Well, you said that Ren took you away from your master but... I can't imagine Kylo Ren freeing slaves without a good reason..." Rose asks curiously.

Sairah blushes instantly.  
"Well... I was my master's favorite singer at the time. He called me his little songbird..." she looks away. She still finds it hard to talk about it.

"Ben told me that the master had Sairah brought to sing for Kylo Ren... and that she sang a cry for help on Twi'leki, which the master did not understand." startled, Sairah turns to Rey.  
"He told you that? I didn't think he would remember which twi'lek it was..."  
"He didn't know either... until you were singing on the ship with the others the other day." Rey confesses.

"The master let you sing on Twi'leki and didn't get suspicious? It was pretty stupid of him!"  
"Well... actually, he had an interpreter he trusted almost blindly. Only he... When the Master asked him what I was singing about... he didn't answer. Ben answered that I was singing about an old Ryloth legend."  
"He defended you?" rose asks in surprise.  
"Yes, I told him in the song that the master never intended to support the first order, so I gave him an excuse to punish the master."  
"And then he took you and the others and dropped you off at the base?!"  
"Yes, but he also visited other slave traders and took their slaves."

"Hmm..." makes Rose think. Rey can understand. When you hear about the crimes of Kylo Ren, you just can't reconcile that with the fact that he freed slaves...  
Maybe, Rey suspects, despite the mask, the first order, Snoke and all the bad things he did, there was always a little bit of Ben around. hidden behind false motives... but there.

"I want to ask you a question." Sairah begins, addressed to Rose.  
"What is it like with you and Finn?"  
Not a pleasant question for Rose, it seems. Because She puts her head in the neck and moans annoyed.  
"I do not know... He's just... and then... but he's actually always... **uuuuaaaarrrrrrr**!" she screams out.

"He's driving me crazy! I told him I liked him a few weeks ago. Do you know how he reacted to that?" she asks to both of them.  
"He stared at me, nodded once and then left. I mean... such an idiot. He didn't even say anything about it. And now that Rey is around again, he's always busy playing the lead in front of her."   
Slowly, the conversation takes a dangerous turn, Rey finds.

But at Rey's panic-stricken look and the shaking of her head, Rose immediately replies: "Oh no, he's not in love with you anymore but he doesn't trust Ben yet. And he's a real pain in the ass."  
Rey inevitably has to think back to the overheard conversation between Finn and Poe.

"Ever since we found out about the job, he's been bugging everybody. He's been working on Poe in particular. But he doesn't get wrapped up in that so easily. I think Poe likes your fiancé quite a bit."   
But Rey is not so sure. She rather suspects that he considers Ben a lucrative client and therefore accepts him.

"How does Chewy feel about all this?" Rey suddenly asks.  
"Oh... yeah, that's kind of weird. Chewy has never actually commented on it... not to mention the fact that only Poe understands his roar. But..." she presses a little bit, but then she finally comes out with the words.  
"When we received the assignment and were told exactly what we would do, Chewy had a long talk with Poe... which you might call an argument. I've never heard them scream like that before. Poe was furious, and Chewy hasn't said a word to anyone since. Even Finn had stopped his anti-Ben rant for a while."  
That was all Rey had in mind. It must be incredibly hard for Ben to be around Chewbacca right now.

"I don't know anything for sure... ...but I think it has something to do with Han Solo... ...at least that name was mentioned in their argument."  
Rey closes her eyes and moans briefly.   
"It's got everything to do with that." she says dejectedly.  
"Chewy, like Finn and I watched Han Solo die."  
"It is said..." Rose begins carefully. "that he was killed by his own son."

"No!... And yes!" Rey admits.  
"They were both standing on a bridge, lit by the faint light of the dying sun. He hadn't seen his son in a long time... and for that moment, it was not Kylo Ren... but Ben Solo! He wanted to hand him his lightsaber, but then... the moment was gone. Once the sunlight was gone... ...there was Kylo Ren in front of him... ...activated the lightsaber... ...and killed Han Solo." as she finishes, Rey lowers her head and feels tears streaming down her cheek.

The people opposite are still speechless. Rey realizes in that moment that she's never really talked to Ben about this before... except the day before he left. They'd have to catch up sometime.  
"I didn't know that was true." Rose speaks softly.  
"Finn had never really talked about it before... and Chewy..."  
"I guess Chewy's just overwhelmed by the whole situation, too... but then he's like Leia and me."  
"I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to face your mother... after you've killed your father..." Rose begins but can't finish the sentence.  
It is better, Rey thinks, to remain silent on this subject.


	22. Girls' Evening Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls' conversations get back to harmless territory. And Rey and Sairah explain what De'ostres is all about.

"So how did you get together with Ti'es?" asks Rose curiously.  
They have started to talk again about Sairah and her experiences on the base. So the time before Rey arrived there.

"That was so... usually all Twi'lek were stared at somehow by the storm troopers ... although one did not know that for the most part ... because of the helmets. But there was this one soldier that I was sure about... ...I could feel him watching me. And when he took off his helmet in the canteen... haaacchhh! It was real love on the... second sight!" everybody laughs heartily.

Sairah had bought some Naboo wine for this evening. At first Rey had refused to drink it but then she gave in.  
Meanwhile she has already emptied her third glass and with every sip her laughter gets happier. 

"I don't understand at all why you were so against the wine. You like it... you liked it even back then on the base." Rose says challengingly.

Rey immediately turns red in the face and looks away in shame.  
There was a reason she left the wine.  
"That's because she didn't tolerate the de'ostres wine very well!" Sairah snorts in between.  
Rey looks at her with indignation.  
"What is the de'ostres wine... I've only heard about your de'ostres struggle" Rose says enthusiastically.  
"Yes," says Sairah. "...the fight was great too... but I bet what came after was even better for Rey!"  
"Sairah!" shouts Rey angrily in between.  
"Oh no, no, no! I wanna hear it now!" begs Rose.  
"Rey had accidentally challenged the de'ostres Princess to a duel. And during the fight, the King gave Ben two bottles of this wine as a gift."  
"...you forgot to say that it was all a translation mistake on your part!" Rey interrupts Sairah with red cheeks.

"Well, those two don't speak de'ostrian, and I had to interpret... and to be honest, I also had problems with the King's pronunciation... he has a very vulgar way of speaking... many things I just didn't want to repeat. And so, at first, I didn't quite understand the explanation of that stupid wine. I had only advised Ben to accept the gift because it would be rude not to, Luckily I was able to stop him from drinking the stuff right away... When the fight was over... and Rey had won in a very impressive way... Well, I told Ben he could drink the stuff now and I'd send Rey to his room.

Rose looks at her and then at Rey with big eyes.  
"And that traitor let me walk right in there. She just said it was a surprise!" the future queen complains about her servant.  
"Well... it was a surprise, wasn't it?"

"What exactly is so special about this wine now?" asks Rose, who is still on the hosing.  
"That the wine stimulates certain regions in men and women ..." suggests the Twi'lek.  
"It stimulates certain regiooo... oooohhhhhh!" at that moment it clicks.

Rey is now red all over her face and looks half ashamed, half annoyed at Siarah, who can't get herself down with all the laughter.  
"And what were you doing in his room then?" Rose asks with blue eyes.   
"Well, we were fucking. Over and over again... This wine gives an incredible steadfastness." it suddenly bursts out of Rey. Surprised by her sudden outburst herself, she takes another big sip from her glass and starts laughing with them the next moment.

For days she hasn't felt as good as she did that day with them.  
"And I'll tell you something else..." Sairah starts. "The next morning, they both looked really tired."  
"Really?" Rose asks Rey as if she was expecting her confirmation.  
"I had trouble walking properly that day!" she admits. They laugh out loud again.

"But everything was fine between the two of them afterwards anyway!" says Sairah happily.  
"How do you judge that... we didn't speak a word to you after that night."  
"Because you did that thing with your hands again..." she tries to explain.  
"Oh... with your hands! ...with your hands?" Rose asks confused.

"Well that if he tries to take you by the hand and you react every time as if he forces you to kneel down in public in front of him and give him a..."  
"Sairah! please watch your language!" Rey interrupts her quickly. Rose, who was about to have a sip of wine, blows half of it out again.

"I've noticed that too ... why are you doing this?" asks the technician after wiping the wine off her face.  
"I just don't like it when someone takes my hand like I was a little kid! Even if it's Ben!"

"She once made it very clear that she didn't like that..."  
"What do you mean?" asks Rose.  
"Let's put it this way... the soldiers who stood around her have kept a few steps away from her ever since. That's when she really exploded... at least in public... I don't know how it is with those two in the bedroom."

"Sairah!" shouts Rey again.  
"What is it? You have a very... ...interesting way to argue."  
"What can be interesting about fighting?" asks Rose and takes another sip of her wine.  
"Well, for one thing, Rey always freaks out easily..."  
"I'm not doing that!" Rey yells in between, annoyed.  
"...and for another, Ben has a very creative way of dealing with her anger..."  
Curious stare Rose to Sairah.  
"...he becomes completely calm and quiet. And that even though he has had extreme anger issues in the past. She can rage so much... and believe me, she does...!"  
"Like hell i does not!" Rey yells in the middle again.   
"But he remains completely relaxed."  
"And that works?"  
"Not quite!" Rey confesses in a genetically altered tone and thinks of Ben's stupid grin when they fight.

"I don't know what happens next, when you freak out a second time." Siarah confesses.  
"He holds me tight." Rey says simply.  
"He what?" ask the other two in the choir.  
"Yeah, he holds me down. Most of the time he pushes me against a wall or something... but he doesn't let go until I'm really calm... It's kind of annoying! He's a bit stronger than me."  
They both look at her in amazement.

"I was always afraid he would do violence to you... if you got so mad..."  
"Ben would never hurt me!" insists Rey. She thinks back to the situation when he first told her about marriage.  
"Not even when he threw a tantrum in my face... He would never hurt me!"

"But you have already given him the odd blow or two..." Sairah murmurs into her glass and at the end becomes so unclear that the following words are no longer understood.  
She alludes to Reys slaps.  
"He can take it... and he deserves a few slaps...!" everybody laughs again.  
Afterwards they talk about the quarrels of Sairah and Ti'es. Now and then there are also some fights between the two of them, but they are more interested in a reconciliation afterwards.

After some time Luke and Leia also return from the village.  
From the terrace they can hear the laughter of the girls.  
"Apparently she's better already." Luke says happily. He had drunk a glass or two of Naboo wine as well.

"Yes! I was very worried about her! I'm glad that she can laugh again. Before I sent her to you, I could only talk to her for a moment. But I recognized immediately that she is filled with an incredible light." Leia says admiringly.  
"And with that light she brought Ben back. She's made amends... for all I've done wrong..."

"No! You mustn't think that way! Snoke got to him. There's always been a lot of darkness in Ben. Just like our father... and in you."   
Luke looks at his sister, concerned. She is right, there has always been much darkness in him... only he could overcome it. He could not help his nephew. He realized too late that Snoke had influenced him so long before. And when he did... the dark side in Luke himself... the part that wanted to destroy Ben, destroyed everything.

"Snoke had taken advantage of that fact... so he could reach him. Who knows... if you had found Rey then and taken her to your school... if that connection had been awakened between them before... ...maybe Ben could have vanquished the darkness within himself..."  
"Too much maybe for my taste..." Luke mocks. "...but you are right..."  
"Of course I am right! I didn't retire to a rock in the sea and do field research on the Porgs!" Leia mocks back and walks away.

"Oh, and by the way..." she stops and turns back to her brother.  
„... I want you to behave yourself around Ben. I want grandchildren!" and with these words she leaves the terrace. Luke smiles after her and then looks down at the girls for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the short explanation about De'ostres... ...would you like a one-shot with that?
> 
> Have a good Sunday, everybody.  
> Love, your Lori ❤️


	23. Miracles upon miracles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is finally back on top and she develops new and mysterious abilities that will amaze not only her friends.

Rey wakes up very late the next morning. She actually got to sleep. However, they didn't go back to the villa until the horizon already started to grey.  
It was a nice evening... or a nice night.

Rose told at the end about a kind of ritual in some system, where the bride-to-be toasts with her female confidants to the forthcoming marriage. She said that we had hereby done this for Sairah and Rey.

Unfortunately and Rey has to admit this, 8 glasses of wine was just too much. Her head feels like cotton wool. The light from the sun that has long since risen disturbs her immensely.

In the fireplace room... ...where they never actually light the fireplace... ...Rose and Sairah sit and make faces like Rey feels.

As soon as she sits down with them, Tahneka appears and hands her two cups and a small capsule.  
"What is this?" asks Rey and feels her own voice is much too loud. The other two seem to feel the same.

"In one cup is water, in the capsule is a painkiller and in the other cup is pureed fruit with many good nutrients." she explains quietly.  
"Thank you!" Rey whispers to Tahneka, who she loves incredibly at this moment.  
Without much grumbling, Rey swallows the capsule, drinks the water afterwards and takes a few big sips of the fruit drink.

Luke and Leia find the girls sobriety extremely amusing. Actually the three only want their peace and quiet, but instead the twins find it especially funny to tell them loudly about their adventures on Endor, Hoth or the first Death Star.  
In silence, Rey decides never again to drink so much wine. Even if it made the evening so much fun.

In the late afternoon, they have finally overcome their headaches and start swimming lessons. Rey learns pretty quickly what is important and can keep her head above water on her own. She manages to swim about a hundred yard without any problems.

In the evening she goes through some of the Jedi scriptures with Sairah and Rose. When Luke catches her doing so he asks indignantly if these are the old Jedi texts from the first temple.   
Whereupon Rey dryly answers that this can be bad, since he had set fire to the first temple.   
Luke just walked away quietly babbling to himself.

The following night Rey could sleep worse again. One nightmare chased the next and again and again she saw six dark figures lurking with eerie weapons. She is convinced she has seen them somewhere before.

The morning after Rose and Sairah disappeared before breakfast. They went to the village to do something and would come back before noon.

Without many words Rey starts her daily care of the Twirrl and heads for the Shaak pasture with a sweet fruit. But before she crosses the suspension bridge she already senses that something is wrong. The Shaak are all crammed together behind a temporary fence and the shepherd squats in front of the lying tusk. Rey runs towards him. 

Sairah and Rose are coming out of the village at this moment and seem to be just as worried about the shepherd, running towards him.

"He was attacked in the night by a wild tusk. He was able to protect the flock... but injured himself!" reports the shepherd dryly.  
The tusk lies on its side and a gaping wound tears its side. Encrusted blood sticks to his flank and his breath only goes in jerks. He seems to be in great pain.

Rey looks at the Shaak, who were all staring in their direction behind the fence, as if they were worried about their protector.  
"What a shame! Was a good guardian! But nothing can be done about it."   
Rose inhales in the next moment startled and Rey can stop the hand of the shepherd just in time before he cuts the tusk's throat.

"Please wait."  
"Wait for what? Every additional second would be another second of torture for the beast!" says the desperate shepherd.  
But Rey looks at him intently and then sits down very close to the tusk.  
She starts to concentrate and puts her hands over the wound. She inhales and exhales deeply and captures her own life energy. Once she has channeled it, she transfers part of it to the injured creature in front of her.  
Astonished, Sairah, Rose and the shepherd watch how the wound of the tusk heals slowly and only a big pale scar remains.

As she pulls her hands away again her fingers tingle and a strange feeling of numbness seizes her. As if she wanted to wipe it off, she shakes her hands a few times.

The tusk straightens up a bit, sniffs briefly at his healed wound and then takes a close look at Rey. For a long time they look each other straight in the eyes. Then he nudges her briefly with his nose and stands up again.  
This seemed to have been a kind of thank you.

The shepherd can't believe his eyes yet as the tusk runs to the penned shaak who snort excitedly.

What Rey only notices now is that some of the villagers have come to them and watched the whole thing. When Rey gets up some people start clapping. Rose and Sairah hurry to her and touch her arms and shoulders. Without ceasing they ask her if she is well, how she did it, if she has always been able to do it.

But Rey does not notice any of this. She still looks at the tusk that watches her from a distance.

When they arrive at the villa, Rose and Sairah tell the twins what happened in the pasture and their amazement is just as great as the girls'. Luke wants to know in which of the texts she read about it and Leia keeps looking at her hands and looks for signs of injuries or other signs of such a miraculous healing. But Rey only gets a glimpse of all this... she is always asking the same question over and over again, which she just can't answer.

How can she have learned something she doesn't know anything about yet? Will she learn it later? Can Ben do that too? Is it possibly a Sith technique he will teach her later? What does it all mean, and... did she actually use a force healing... a technique she learned from her unborn, still uncreated son?

Ever since that day, rey has been a hero to the village. The kids always come to the mansion to see more of Lady Rey's magic tricks. Usually Luke forbids her to use the Force to amuse small children. But when he's not looking, she makes little stones fly for them... or even Drop and Nuck, who complain about it loudly.

Sairah and Rose brought her some new clothes from the village. Simple ¾ pants and colourful tunics as well as long and light scarves, which she can wear just like on Jakku. With Luke she starts a training with sticks as sword - substitute. Very soon she notices that the tricks Ben showed her during her short training, give her a small advantage over Luke.

Two days after her miracle healing Rey swims alone in the early morning to the small island that can be seen from Varykino. There she sits cross-legged on a hill and starts to meditate.

Last night she could hardly sleep again.  
The nightmares of the dark figures always startled her. Especially one of the figures disturbed her. Near him her fear seemed to increase many times over.

During meditation she could again unconsciously feel everything in her surroundings.  
And then there is again a tremendous energy that comes towards her this time.  
She feels... big vibrations... a loud, deep screaming.

But this screaming is really very close.  
The others wake up from this noise and all stand on the terrace. Looking out, Luke eventually says that he can recognize Rey on the island.  
Also the inhabitants of the village have heard the noise and all of them step to the cliffs to look for the source of the noise. 

"What the hell is she doing there?" Luke asks angrily. But in the next moment all trouble is forgotten. A monstrously large figure appears in the sky. A creature with huge wings descends from the sky and lands on the small island right in front of the meditating Rey. She slowly opens her eyes and looks into the wide open red eyes of the creature in front of her. 

Compared to its gigantic wings, which have a wingspan of about hundred yard, the rest of its body appears to be much smaller. But the huge wings give it a majestic appearance. Rey and the creature look at each other for a long time. Then it comes closer with his head. It has a kind of prickly horn on its forehead. Sharp teeth and a bent neck. After it has apparently sniffed at her, it withdraws and glides through the water towards one of the steep cliffs where a waterfall plunges into the depths. With its claws it climbs up the wall and stretches its wings again when it reaches the top. With the next gust of wind it jumps into the depths, glides upwards carried by the wind and disappears in the clouds.

Rey has been sitting there quietly the whole time. Despite its majestic size, she knew that the creature posed no threat to her.  
As if nothing had happened, she closed her eyes again and continued to meditate.

Tahneka, who has joined the others. Explain to them that the great creature was apparently the Titavian. Aü creature normally found only in the mountains. But since it is hardly ever sighted, it has already entered the realm of legend.

Everyone in the village now knows that Rey is the fabled future Queen of the Grey Alliance and sees her as a gift from the gods that will bring peace and freedom to them and the rest of the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titavian:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Titavian
> 
> Tomorrow we will find out what Ben is up to in the meantime.
> 
> You guys have a good week.   
> Stay well!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	24. Ben and the Crolute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben has arranged a meeting with an old _acquaintance_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, love you... Yes yes yes finally Ben again... I missed him already! XD  
> Have fun!

Ben looks at the reports of the last days again and again.  
The Night Buzzard has not changed its location. They are waiting... they're waiting for him. Only Ti'es knows about the knights.

He can't stop thinking about how he took the Order of the Knights of Ren, how he gave them a 'good death'.   
Ren himself, the man who founded the order, was the 'good death'.

That was when Ben Solo got to be Kylo Ren...

The proclamation passed without incident. It was explained to the soldiers that at the end of the First Order, they would now be able to choose their own path.

Ben knows that many voices were raised, that he himself made the data of their past disappear. No one had mentioned that Hux himself had had this data destroyed. What good would it do now? He's locked up and will get his just punishment. But the soldiers have no real chance of starting their own lives without any clues to their origins.

Many of them volunteered as soldiers of the Grey Alliance after the speech. Simply because they had no other prospects. But an even larger number of soldiers gathered in the largest canteen and discussed with each other whether there should be something like a Grey Alliance at all. They had been taken away from families they would never meet again and now they should continue to work for them?

It boiled up more and more and Ti'es called Ben at some point to intervene, otherwise it would draw circles and could turn all the soldiers against him.  
But when he arrived... Finn gave a speech to the soldiers and convinced them to join the Grey Alliance if they want to help spread peace and freedom in the universe. They would no longer be out to suppress or exploit systems, but to offer them protection and security. They could make up for what former dictators like Snoke or Hux did to them. They would be able to discard their conditioning over time, just like he did.  
And just like him, they would realize that the Grey Alliance under the leadership of Ben Solo and Lady Rey can heal the universe.

With that, he had turned all the soldiers on their side. Even the last doubters shared his opinion, though they would rather follow the queen than the king. But it will be a beginning.

Ti'es found his speech particularly moving. A few days before, the following happened in the Falcon:

_They had been at MΛ for two days, and Ben retired to his private quarters that evening.  
Finn felt uncomfortable around so many storm troopers and spent most of his time on the Falcon.  
Ti'es helped Chewy with small repairs of the engines and talked to him about the advantages and disadvantages of the latest speeder models.  
Until Poe joins in._

_"You won't believe what's going on in the barracks!"  
Everybody's looking at him eagerly, waiting for further explanations.  
"Some soldiers have already gotten wind of the Grey Alliance plans and also that the data of their past has been completely erased. They are pissed off, to say the least."_

_"I can understand that!" Finn interferes.  
"Wouldn't surprise me if Ren himself deleted the files to bind the soldiers to the Grey Alliance..."  
"That's a lie!" Ti'es interjects.   
"Master Solo has spent every waking minute of the last three months trying to find a way to recover the data. He knew exactly that he would be blamed for the disappearance and yet he chose this path." the captain insists._

_"Why doesn't he just tell them that this asshole Hux deleted the data?" Poe asks cautiously.  
"What good would it do?" Ti'es counters  
"Even if they believed him, it couldn't change anything. That way, he can at least give them the choice of leaving the life of soldiers behind or becoming new soldiers of the Grey Alliance..."  
"'Complete and utter bullshit!" Finn shouts angrily in between.  
"Ren could easily release them all! But he doesn't want to let them go, then he would lose the troops of his own private army and in case of an uprising he wouldn't be able to subdue the small systems anymore.  
He just wants to stay in charge of everything and..."_  
 **BATSCH!!!!** _does it when Ti's fist hits him in the face. Finn goes to the ground and takes it in his eye that Ti'es fist has just been maltreated._

_"Don't you ever say that again!" the captain throws an angry tantrum.  
"He has sacrificed so much to be able to walk this path! Everything could have been different... he could have gone on as the Supreme Leader to enslave the universe but he chose to change everything... If you don't believe him... at least believe in the Queen! Because she's the bright star everyone will follow! He's doing it all for her!"_

_And with these words he leaves the Falcon. Finn is still on the ground. Chewy has already gone into the cockpit and Poe is crouching next to him.  
"You kind of deserved that!" he says simply and hands him a cooling pad._

Now he is standing there, surrounded by former First Order soldiers and has just convinced them to support the Grey Alliance and the Royal Couple.  
After a few cheers and strong applause Finn leaves the canteen and walks towards Ti'es. Ti'es gives him his arm in friendship. Finn accepts and the captain apologizes for his violet.

When he steps next to Ben, he is about to thank him for his efforts when the former storm trooper interrupts him.  
"I did not do this for you Kylo Ren! I did this for her! Because the soldiers will eventually figure out for themselves that there can be a Grey Alliance without you."  
Without waiting, Finn walks away.

MΛ is in the outer rim and the outward flight took quite a long time because they made a stopover on Jakku.

They landed just before the Nima outpost. Ti'es had arranged a meeting between Unkar Plutt and Ben.  
Finn, Poe and Chewy are standing at the ramp of the Falcon and see Ben and Ti'es going after them to go on a massive croluten that was already waiting for them.

"What kind of guy is this again?" Poe asks annoyed.  
"His name is Unkar Plutt, he is the boss here and Rey used to work for him." Finn explains.  
"Aha! And what are we doing here now?" he asks further.  
"I don't know... maybe Ren wants to kill him because he has been using Rey all these years." Finn suggests.  
"He'd fit right in."

They remain silent for a while, trying to figure out what's going on with the others.  
Until, "Rose's eavesdropping system" Finn and Poe shout in chorus.  
Right away, they run into the cockpit and they set it up.  
After short adjustments the first voices are heard.

_„... ...have made a mess of everything here... stole from me and then she has the nerve to play Queen?! That's the limit!"  
That was Unkar Plutt's voice.  
"As far as I know, she has worked for you for many years for a pittance! The way I see it, you are even!"  
"But the YT freighter... !“  
"The stolen YT- freighter, which originally belonged to my father... do we really want to talk about the fact that she stole a ship from you, which you stole from someone else before and who stole from someone else before?" Ben asks amusedly.  
"But she was my best scavenger! Business hasn't been so good since she left."  
"You'll see that we'll pay for your trouble, but in return you'll immediately delete the bounty you put on her a week ago!" his tone now has a suppressed angry note._

Finn and Poe look at each other in amazement. Neither of them seem to have known about the bounty. And also Chewy, who was listening in the hallway until a moment ago, came closer and listened carefully now.

_"That... where...?" is what Plutt is trying to justify.  
"As Ti'es about to show you, we'll give you enough credits to pay for the damage she did. And also for the ship she took... But your business losses are your responsibility! If you can't sell enough parts, you'll have to start looking for your own junk!"  
Plutt seems offended by his accusations but appeased by the money.  
"Well... ...here's what we can do!" he agrees._

_"One more thing," Ben stops him before he can leave with his loans.  
"What do you know about her family... her parents?"  
The crolute looks at him sceptically.  
"What the hell do I know? "They came in here and sold me the girl... That's what losers do. They're gonna shoot themselves on the next planet... I don't get it... she comes out of nowhere. Why are you so determined to marry her and make her a queen... She's nothing!"   
Ben's stomach is turned by the anger of this creep. But he takes a few deep breaths and then replies to his insolent question, "Not for me!"  
Plutt turns and snorts and stomps away._

Ben turns back to the Falcon as well. On the way he stops and looks into the distance.  
Ti'es stands beside him and tries to follow his gaze.  
"That she had to work for such a creep...!" says the captain with stunnedness in his voice.  
"She had no choice... did they ask you to become a soldier?" Ti'es knows nothing to answer that.  
"Or do you think they asked me if I wanted to become a Jedi?" For a moment there is silence between the two and you only hear the wind blowing over the dunes.

"Perhaps we should keep this matter from Lady Rey."  
Ben looks at him from the side and asks him in a stunned but amused tone: "And how am I supposed to hide this from her?"  
"Excuse me, sir!"  
"Please go back to the falcon, I'll be right behind you!" he orders him and walks off into the desert.

After a while, he can't see the outpost behind the dunes. Then he stands in front of the wreckage of a former imperial AT-AT runner.  
He can still feel her energy signature inside. He was able to see it during the interrogation.

Inside, it's exactly as he imagined it would be. Much of it's been reconfigured. A small couch on which she slept. A straw doll in the uniform of a resistance pilot. A little smile steals on his lips as he takes the doll in his hand.  
Then he looks at the wall. It is covered with fine scratches.  
A sign of how long she has been waiting here. An unspeakable pain spreads in his chest. And then there is the wish... if only he had found her before. If he could have gotten her out of here...  
As she said when he left... she was very good at waiting?!  
He wants to make sure she never has to come back here again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a good day, and stay well.
> 
> Yours, Lori ❤


	25. An unexpected visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark shadow lies over Varykino...

After they have left MΛ again, they make themselves on the direct way back. In hyperspace Ben is deeply lost in thought and only realizes a moment later that Poe has spoken to him.

"What? Sorry..."  
"I just wanted to know if you were looking forward to seeing your fiancée again."  
"Uhh, yes!" says Ben, curtly and slightly confused by the sudden build-up of personal conversation.  
"Aaaand... what are you doing in Naboo? Do you go back to the base or... somewhere else...?" Poe keeps asking questions, only Ben doesn't listen to him anymore. His concentration is shifted elsewhere. He feels it... slowly he gets up. He moves his head in one direction, but he doesn't see a specific point.

Poe, who has been talking the whole time, is slowly becoming suspicious.  
"Um, tell me... am I boring you or..."  
"Shut the fuck up, will you?" Ben gives him the runaround.  
Then he runs to the cockpit without explanation.

Chewy, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, yells at him loudly as Ben makes some adjustments to the onboard computer.  
"I just need to find out exactly where we are..." a short pause occurs in which he looks at the current coordinates.  
"Okay!" he just says, and pulls the lever that pulls them out of hyperspace. With a jerk, they slow down and stop in the middle of space.

"Oh man!" yells Poe, who rushes towards them.  
Chewbacca yells at him loudly and pushes him aside in annoyance, but Ben holds out and yells back to calm him down. The wookie continues to roar, Poe interrupts the argument and points to a point outside the ship.  
Finn and Ti'es join in and stare just like the others at the strange ship that just left hyperspace next to them.

"Were we followed?" Poe asks suspiciously.  
"Sensors didn't pick up anything... where are they coming from?"  
"Their ship is specialized in cloaking and is very difficult to track." Ben says calmly.  
"Wait a minute, you know this thing?" Poe asks confused.  
"Wait... No! Is that..." begins Finn, who has apparently recognized the ship.  
"This is the Night Buzzard!" Ben confirms.  
"This can't be... Did you know they were following us? Did you lead them to us?" Finn asks angrily.

But Ben, who is already busy with the advertisements again, doesn't pay any attention to him.  
"We could try light-speed stuttering... so we are the hunters of the first..." Poe begins.  
"And Rey will really kill you if you land the mill on fire..." Finn concludes.

"We will land there... at these coordinates." says Ben, sits in the pilot's seat and steers the Falcon to those coordinates.  
"Hey wait a minute, how do you know how to fly this thing?" Poe asks in amazement.  
"Have you already forgotten who the ship belonged to?" the addressed man asks dryly.  
"Yes, that's true."  
"Besides, Chewbacca taught me how to fly the falcon when I was 7 years old."

Poe looks at the hairy giants, shrugging his shoulders and nodding his head to confirm.

C3PO and R2D2 are still in the lounge, talking.  
"Here we go again, R2! Always this excitement!"  
R2D2 beeps him a quick reply.  
"Oh yes, I think Master Dameron is a much more agreeable captain than Master Solo was."  
"3PO! Get your gilded butt down to the engine room and make sure the hyperdrive doesn't bitch when we want to get away fast!" yells Poe from the cockpit.  
"Oh! How rude!" the droid complains and heads for the engine room.

"Should Finn go to the gun?" he asks Ben, who has obviously taken command.  
"No, we're outgunned in space... the armor is strong enough to withstand force flashes."  
"You know your way around this thing pretty good, though." remarks Poe, who sits behind him.  
"That's because I've made some improvements to the Buzzard myself..."  
"And what exactly are those people on the ship now?" Poe continues.  
"The Knights of Ren... his old friends... don't like traitors, do they?!" replies Finn.  
"No one likes traitors FN 2187!" Ben replies.

"Okay, Knights of Ren... ...have I ever heard of... but never seen them before... what are those guys... what do they want?"  
"In the first order, they were once called ghouls..." says Finn.  
"A more accurate description would be psychopathic Jedi slayers." Ben sounds worried.  
"Oh, great. Your old friends... I knew it wouldn't be boring with you two.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

On Naboo, we go back one day...

Tahneka is busy in the kitchen in the morning. Rey, who has just finished tending the twirrl, offers to help. The caretaker refuses, but Rey still brings a bucket of dirty water outside and dumps it in front of the door.

"Hello girl! Would you be so kind as to take me to your mistress?!" it sounds behind her. A dark-skinned man of advanced age stands before her and looks at her kindly.  
But Rey hasn't failed to notice that he just called her girl.   
Your mistress???  
Apparently, he mistook her for the maid. But as he likes...

"I'd love to...!" she says in an exaggeratedly friendly way and tells him to go inside.  
Inside she shouts out, "Leia! There's someone here to see you."  
"Oh... the princess is here...?" he asks happily.  
"That's nice, but actually I want to see your young mistress, the future Queen Rey!" he says explaining.

Rey does not react any further. In the next moment Leia joins them.  
"Lando Calrissian! Well, if that isn't a surprise...?!" the former General warbles as she sees the man.  
So that's Commander Lando Calrissian? Rey has heard of his exploits in the rebellion... but also that he's a gambler and a cheat. This is just getting interesting.

"My dear Princess... you grow more beautiful every day" he says.  
"Oh! You old bat! What brings you here?"  
"I have come to see our future queen, is she here right now?" he asks and looks in all directions for said queen.  
Leia looks at Rey, who smiles calmly.

"Oh Lady Rey! I told you not to help me!" Tahneka comes and rebukes her.  
Rey, who is still holding the empty bucket in her hand, returns it wordlessly to the steward. 

Calrissian, who has just realized his mistake, now takes a good look at the girl.

Luke joins them and greets the newcomer just as exuberantly. Drop and Nuck, who loudly follow him, come running and fluttering towards Rey. BB8 also joins them and excitedly beeps at the former commander. Nuck, jumping up and down before her feet, until she helps him onto her shoulder.

"I'm in the pasture." she says explaining and leaves the house with the animals and BB8.

"I put my foot in my mouth once." says Lando ashamed of himself.

Rey spends most of the day with the Shaak in the pasture and watches the animals playing with BB8. Some children come to her from time to time and marvel at little tricks with stones, blades of grass and how BB8 starts to float, which he doesn't like at all.

In the late afternoon she returns to the villa and immediately goes to the study room to further decipher the Jedi writings.

"When I think back on how you came into the ballroom on Xervos... and then see this little girl here... Let's just say I cannot associate this little adventuress in front of me with the image of that goddess on Xervos."  
Lando seems to have been waiting for her there. Without paying him any further attention she goes on to her books.

Apparently he was at the Dignitaries' Ball on Xervos. Strange that nobody noticed him.  
"Would it help if I apologized to you politely?" he asks amused.  
After further silence he simply sits down opposite her at the table.  
"Could it be possible that you don't like me?" he then asks quite directly.

Rey looks up at him and looks at him for a while. Then she says in a calm voice: "I don't even know you."  
Lando looks at her with big eyes for a moment and then starts to laugh out loud.

"That's not bad! Hmm, all right! My name is Lando Calrissian, I grew up on Socorro. I used to be a smuggler, pirate and gambler. Later, I fought in the rebellion against the galactic empire, and after that... I pretty much went back to doing what I was doing before."  
Rey has to smile a little because of his sudden flood of information.

"I am Rey... I come from Jakku and worked there as a Stavanger." she says openly and gives him her hand as a greeting.  
"I'm glad..., Rey from Jakku!" he answers and gratefully takes her hand.

Lando Calrissian quickly became friends with Rey and the girls. In the evening he tells them about his experiences with Han and the falcon. About the legendary Kessel flight and his time in the cloud city.

Rey likes him... ...but despite his obvious harmlessness, she has a bad feeling about him. He obviously has nothing bad in mind. Curiosity is what drove him here. The fact that he knows Ben and wanted to visit his young fiancée. And besides, he was in the neighborhood. But it seems to Rey... that a dark shadow is following him.

And unfortunately, that's just the way it is... Lando has unwittingly led someone to them... threatening them all.

He stands on an elevation near one of the waterfalls and can see Varykino in the distance. That's where he's headed. The White Jedi... ...who with her cursed light has driven Kylo Ren away. If she dies... his master will return.

His name is Vicrul.   
He is a knight of Ren.   
His philosophy is that with each kill he makes, he grows stronger as he absorbs his life force. And he has killed many opponents... ...very many.  
Unconsciously, he can use the Force to strike fear into his enemies... ...and even when he is far away... the fear in Ray's heart grows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to all readers and comment writers! I wish you a nice sunny day. Stay healthy, everybody! Your Lori ❤


	26. Vicrul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey have to face their opponents separately... every one for themself...?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little information at the beginning:   
> ♧= signals the scene change to Naboo   
> ♤= signals the scene change to Kef Bir

Kef Bir:  
Actually, an inconspicuous moon in the Endor system.  
But exactly in this system the great battle of Endor ended 30 years ago... at the very spot where the second Death Star fell.  
And even today, the debris still sticks out of the ocean's raging waves.

The Millennium Falcon has landed near a cliff. From where you can see the last remnants of the Galactic Empire. There Luke Skywalker had converted his father to the light side and destroyed Emperor Palpatine.

The Night Buzzard lands near them with a lot of smoke and fumes. Dark figures emerge. Each of them is equipped with dangerous weapons. Ben knows this, because he has already seen each of them fight with these weapons.

"They look scary!" says Poe, who looks at the new arrivals with a warped expression.  
"Well, that's five... one for each. We're with you, my friend."

"You will do nothing!" orders Ben, who looks at the rides with a serious face.  
"What? You're gonna face them alone?" asks Poe, who somehow doesn't mind not fighting the knights.  
"If they get past you, do you mind if we fight back if they try to kill us?!"

"There are only five of them." Ben says to Ti'es.  
"I was not aware they had separated or lost one." he dutifully reports.

Ben always approaches them with his lightsaber in his hand.  
He looks at them closely, then calls out to them: "Where is Vicrul... ...has his eternal panic gone too far?"

One of them, Kuruk, the pilot answers him.  
"He's busy somewhere else...! If everything goes well, he'll be at your girl's house, cutting her up!"

Ben's heart stops for a moment. Vicrul is with her. ...he found her... ...but how? Ben had organized everything so that it looked like Rey would travel back to the base with the Stardestroyer and only he would fly to the troop base alone. That she is still on Naboo is not widely known.

He takes a deep breath and focuses on her... on his second half... he can feel her.  
She's alive... she's afraid... but she does not fight. Then he must be near her and she doesn't know it yet...  
He closes his eyes, keeps breathing calmly and whispers her name: "Rey..." and then she stands in front of him.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

On Naboo, they just finished breakfast. Rey had eaten too little as usual but there was this strange feeling of fear that had been haunting her since yesterday. Even Luke had already noticed it and has been keeping an eye on her ever since.

Ben didn't want to tell him why he really should be here. He just said that it couldn't hurt Rey if she could continue her education. Not to mention that Luke didn't think anything of continuing her education. Since, in his opinion, she no longer needed a teacher...  
There's something else. It's like Ben thinks his fiancée would be safer around Luke.

Lando's telling how he infiltrated the Hoot as a bounty hunter... when Rey senses an intrusion into her mind. Ben establishes a force connection with her.

She gets up and takes a few steps away from the others. When she turns around, he stands before her. His expression is unfathomable. At first she only sees him... but he seems to be outside, his hair whipped by the wind.

"Oh, my holy..."  
"Ben!"  
"How does it go...?" it comes from the others who can obviously see him. But she ignores them... she's only looking at Ben.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

About the same thing happens with him.  
Finn, Poe, Ti'es and Chewy look on in amazement at Rey who has just appeared from nowhere. Suddenly she stands on the field directly in front of Ben and looks up at him.

She can feel his concern. As soon as she turns around, she can see his surroundings... and there they are. The black-clad dark figures that have been following her in her nightmares... but...  
"There's only five of them!" she stunned.  
Startled she turns back to Ben and whispers: "Where is the sixth?" 

The next moment he lets his lightsaber appear and red light shines on them both ... then he has disappeared again and she knows what to do.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

He warned her. At a fast pace and without paying attention to the others, she runs to her room, pulls the lightsaber, which she has put on the night cabinet, towards her with the Force and runs out of the house.  
Luke, Leia and Sairah... all call after her to stop, but she can't hear them anymore.

All she can still perceive is the fear that gets louder and louder like a hissing in her ears. As she runs over the suspension bridge she notices that Luke is on her heels.

Once on the other side she pulls one of the pillars out of the ground on each side with the force, so that only two narrow ropes lead across the gorge.  
"Don't do it!" the old Jedi yells at her. But she doesn't even look at him anymore.  
Because _he_ has been waiting for her.

They are in a small field surrounded by water on both sides. On the other two sides, it is bordered by a gorge. On one side the suspension bridge leads to Varykino, the bridge that has just cut it off, and over a narrow bridge on the other side you can get across the water to the Shaak pasture.  
It stands with its back to the slope.

Behind her her friends appear and watch panic-stricken as she approaches an unknown dark figure alone. Because there he stands. Vicrul!  
With a black coat and a creepy mask. The closer she gets to him the stronger her fear.

"So you're the scavenger bitch. " he begins.  
"I have been told a lot about you! The brat of Jakku, who blinds our master with her cursed light and keeps him away from the shadows."

She's actually seen him before. On Takodana, when she first touched the lightsaber she now holds in her hand. It was then that she had seen Kylo Ren and his Knights of Ren in a vision.

"Kylo Ren no longer exists!" she cries out to him.  
"Do you really believe that?" he asks amusedly.  
"What do you think will happen to him when I bring him your bloody head? Do you think he will remain the weakling Ben Solo?"  
"You'll have to have my head first." mocks Rey and tries to hide her fear.  
"Nothing could be easier. I have defeated countless enemies and absorbed their power. In a moment, I will have your strength too!" he calls and draws his weapon.  
Rey turns on her lightsaber. He fights with a curved blade on a staff. Red sparks sparkle at the blade. It's been enhanced with a cyber crystal.

Suddenly she hears Sairah screaming behind her. **"NO... RUN AWAY!!!"**  
Behind Vicrul, the children from the village appear and run joyfully towards Rey. A short moment of distraction, which the knight immediately takes advantage of and throws himself on her. Rey can fend off his attack but the children still run towards them. In a moment, a terrible accident would happen, but then...

The tusk comes jumping over the river and gets in the way of the children. As if they were his Shaak he chases them back over the bridge and keeps guard there so that nobody else runs onto the fighting field.  
Inwardly she thanks the animal and concentrates again completely on the fight.

Vicrul is fast and agile. Every time she almost catches him, he evades cleverly.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Meanwhile Ben is also fighting against the remaining knights. He manages very well to keep them in check. But five of them are simply more difficult to defeat.

The friends on Kef Bir and Naboo watch stunned as the future ruler couple fights against the darkness.

When four of the knights pounce on him, he can hurl them away with a force thrust and slay the first of them.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Rey manages to evade him with a clever turn, just like she did in the fight against Ben on base.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Ben can pierce two of them with his sword and they only fight him in pairs. One of them he hits his head off and then only Ushar is left to face him. He has always been a talented duelist who values the rules.

Here on Kef Bir only Ben against Ushar and there on Naboo only Rey against Vicrul. Both fight alone against their respective opponents.

But... they are not alone... 

A force connection is being formed. Suddenly Ben sees Vicrul standing with his back to him, only three feet away. And Rey sees Ushar standing in front of her, also just three feet away.  
Then Ben and Rey look each other in the eyes and realize that they were never really alone.

Years ago, when Ben became Kylo Ren, Rey noticed a frightening cold from Jakku. She felt this cold again later when she faced Kylo Ren for the first time in the Takodana Forest.  
This cold now stands between them in the form of the last two Knights of Ren, but not for long.

They both strike out and kill the enemies standing directly in front of them. Then the connection is broken again. In front of Rey, about 15 feet away, lie the dismembered remains of Vicrul. And in front of Ben are the remains of Ushar at the same distance.  
They have slain their partner's respective opponents through a force connection.

But in the next moment Ben hears a beeping sound... and then another. All around him the weapons of the defeated knights start beeping and Ben remembers his first encounter with them. The leader at the time, Ren, told of the weapon he was holding in his hand that would explode if he let go of it.  
That's exactly what would happen here... and to Rey too!

Without thinking much about it, he throws the others who were about to run at him from the Falcon back with the Force and runs after them when the beeping stops. The next moment Ben turns around again... there's only one thing left to do!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know... it's a bad Cliffhanger XD but tomorrow...
> 
> Love, stay well!  
> Your Lori ❤️


	27. Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After this mean cliffhanger from yesterday, the thrill continues now.   
> As I wrote this chapter, I cried...  
> Enjoy it...

Finn, Poe, Chewbacca and Ti'es see with their own eyes how a huge explosion is building up before them. But it does not reach them.

Ben has built a strong force barrier to protect them. They can see how the blast wave shatters the Knights' ship and forms a huge crater. And there's Ben... With his hands up, he holds that barrier up. Only at the last moment his strength decreases and he is thrown backwards with great power.

He lands hard and the others run towards him. But before they can reach him he already straightens up again. Still dazed but with a clear goal in mind.  
"Rey!"

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Even at Rey's feet the weapon of the defeated knight starts to beep. For a moment she looks down at it helplessly.

"RUN AWAY!" shouts Luke to her, but it's almost too late. At the last moment she can build a much smaller barrier between herself and the explosion, but is thrown backwards by the shock wave.  
She also hits the ground hard and flies a little further... too far. The friends can still watch helplessly as she rolls over the edge of the cliff.

Luke immediately starts to work his way over the two narrow ropes to the other side. Because he can still feel her. She did not fall. She holds on to the edge with her last desperate strength.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

On Kef Bir, Ben runs towards the cliff towards the ocean without thinking much about it. The others can no longer stop him.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

And when he's about to do so, the friends on Naboo can watch as he emerges from nowhere and throws himself to the ground in front of the abyss where Rey is clinging on with all her might.

The moment Rey's strength wanes and she calls Ben's name in a fragile voice, he grabs her arms before she can fall.  
With all his remaining strength he pulls her up over the edge of the cliff and brings her back down to solid ground.

Then they crouch in front of each other. Rey touches his cheek with tears in her eyes and whispers, "Ben!"   
The next moment, the connection is broken again.

He swore he would never let her alone and he kept his promise. He will always be there for her... she knows that now.

Never in her life has she been so afraid as during this fight. And never in her life has she felt as safe... as she does now.  
She smiles as Luke comes rushing toward her and puts her face between his hands.  
"Rey! Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asks excitedly.

Astonished, she looks into his eyes. She can only see real concern in his bright blue eyes... he really cared for her...  
"I'm fine!" she brings it out in a choked voice. The fingers of his metal hand feel cool and hard on her cheek, but in Luke's look and touch there is nothing but real affection. Rey is overwhelmed with tears as he takes her in his arms. As he rebukes her never to do something so dangerous and stupid again. When he comforts her like a father and says that everything is going to be okay now.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

After the connection is broken, Ben can sense that she's safe.  
Now he sits here and looks back at the battlefield. The falcon and his crew are undamaged. And there it lies. The lightsaber of Kylo Ren. Before the explosion, he just dropped it.  
He gets up and walks slowly towards it. He picks it up and looks at it for a while.

This time the others don't run towards him because they're afraid something might explode again or he might run away again.

But he just stands there and stares at the inactive lightsaber in his hand.  
For a long time he thinks about how he broke the cyber crystal in his hand... how the crystal bled... By breaking the crystal, he had also broken with his past and allowed darkness to enter his heart.

Then he looks up and walks towards the cliff. When he reaches the cliff, he looks into the distance. One last step only...  
But there is... can it really be?

The others cannot believe their own eyes...  
Finn and Poe run towards him, but Chewbacca holds them back. Together they look at Ben... ...and the person who has suddenly appeared behind him...

Ben still can't believe it. Slowly, he turns around.

"Hey, kiddo!" he says to his son.

There he is, Han Solo.   
Stunned, Ben stares at his father's ghost. He looks back with a friendly expression. As always, with his slightly crooked smile.  
Thousands of feelings shoot through Ben within a few seconds. It is simply indescribable what is going on inside him right now. 

He is really here.

"You should shave again." Han says before his son can find any words...  
Ben's head is yawning empty at the moment. But he nods to confirm.

Slowly Han turns around and looks at the battlefield with the big crater and the remains of the destroyed Night Buzzard.  
"You've had quite a romp." he smiles again.

"I missed you, boy!" he says softly.  
Now he's got to say something... something...

"Dad...!" 

But that's all he can do. Han just nods understandingly. Then he looks at the sword in his hand.  
"And what are you going to do with that thing now?" the former pilot asks his son and points to it.

Ben lifts it up..., he lifts it up just like he did on the bridge, once befor...  
For a long time he looks at it and formulates his following words carefully.  
"I know what I have to do and I also know that with _her_ by my side I can find the strength to do it."  
Han nods in agreement and smiles his crooked smile again.

Then he raises his hand carefully and touches his son's face very lightly. Just like on the bridge.  
"Yes you can." Han's voice is full of love.

"She is something special! Treat her properly!" he admonishes him.  
Slowly he takes his hand away. But Ben can't move yet.  
He just stares into his father's face. 

He has missed him so much, he is now painfully aware of it. And there's so much he wants to say to him...

"Dad..." he wants to start... but his throat feels like it's too tight and tears are burning in his eyes.  
But his father understands him. He smiles and says, "Yes, I know!" 

That says it all. One moment Ben looks at him, then he turns around and throws the cursed sword with the broken Cyber Crystal... the sword with which he killed his own father... the sword of Kylo Ren far out into the sea.  
And he feels a heavy burden fall from him... Kylo Ren is dead for all time!

As soon as he turns around, Han Solo is gone again. His disappearance leaves him with a queasy feeling of emptiness... but it's good... and peaceful!  
Pleased and with a light smile, he closes his eyes.

Finn, who had watched the whole thing just like the others, now walks towards Ben. Arriving at his place he looks at him seriously and silently, then offers him his hand and says: "Hi! I'm FN2187! But friends call me Finn! So just call me Finn."

Ben looks at him and then at his hand for a moment. As he grabs it with a smile, he replies, "My name is Ben Solo! Nice to meet you Finn!" And the former stormtrooper smiles, too.  
"Nice to meet you, Ben."

They'll never be best friends for sure, but it's a start.  
Finn can sense that he has just taken a decisive step.   
Kylo Ren is gone forever. Now there is only Ben Solo. And as King of the Grey Alliance, he will make amends for what Kylo Ren and the First Order have done.

After leaving Kef Bir, they will head back to Naboo. Ben can't wait to see Rey now.

In an undisturbed moment, Ben and Chewy can reconcile in their own way. Without a word, without a wooky sound Chewbacca takes Ben in his arms and holds him for a while. For Ben this moment is infinitely precious, because he is finally at home, just as his father Han Solo had wished for him.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Rey goes "Ouch!" as Sairah rubs a few scratches on her arm with the Bakta ointment.  
"You deserve this..." blames the Twi'lek who still can't hold back her tears.  
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," she demands.

"I'm sorry! But what could I do?"  
After the treatment Rey puts on a clean tunic and washes her face. Leia and Rose had also given her one lecture after another. And the people in the village are even more enthusiastic about Rey than before (if that's even possible).

Luckily, the tusk had scared the children away before anything worse could happen. In Rey's eyes, he is the real hero.

"Can I talk to you in private for a moment?" asks Luke, who carefully sticks his head inside the door.  
Sairah leaves the room wordlessly with teary eyes. Luke looks irritated after her. When he looks at Rey, she says dryly: "She'll get over it!

Luke nods off wordlessly and walks towards Rey, who is tying her hair back.  
"I don't recognize the girl who came to Ahch-To to give me my old lightsaber back." She looks at him expectantly.

"And I keep asking myself..." He remains silent for a while.  
"What?" she asks impatiently.  
"What would have become of you if I had found you then Before Snoke got so much power over Ben and... before I betrayed him..." his voice sounds sad.  
"We will never know!" Rey appeases.

"But you didn't betray him...!"  
"Well, if not him... then I betrayed myself! You know...! Like every other creature in the universe, I have to fight the dark side inside me every day. The night the Jedi Temple burned to the ground, when I betrayed Ben too terribly, I lost that fight."   
Rey is silent.

"When you were able to stride into the darkness so easily on Ahch-To... I was afraid that I would lose you to the dark side too. Ben is my nephew... of all my students, he was my favorite... ...even if it wasn't meant to be. After all, no teacher should have a favorite student, but he was so talented... and the Force was so incredibly strong in him..."   
Rey understands what he is getting at.

"When you showed up on my island and realized the potential you had I didn't want you to be..."   
Luke's muted, but he doesn't have to keep talking. That's why he had always kept her at a distance...

"I think... ...it would have been difficult for Ben at some point... if I had grown up with him in the Jedi Temple." Rey observes, to lighten the mood.  
"Yes, we would inevitably clash at some point. And who knows if he or you would have finished the training in the first place..."   
Rey just smiles.

"By the way, I have something for you." says the old Jedi Master and digs around in his coat. Then he pulls out a longish object wrapped in cloth.  
"But don't unpack it until Ben arrives... you'll know what to do then." he closes his explanation, hands her the bundle and leaves the room.

Though it will never be easy with Master Skywalker... she knows now that she means something to him. And that is worth more to her than any gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I admit it, I have taken over some things from TROS and as you have surely already noticed, Palpatine plays absolutely no role in my story...
> 
> Tomorrow there will be two more chapters... with a big, fat NSFW warning.
> 
> Until then, stay healthy!
> 
> Yours truly, Lori ❤


	28. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben finally arrives at Varykino and is the first to look for Rey.

The return flight was indeed much faster than the outward flight. Especially because Ben is now getting along much better with Finn, Chewy and also Poe. 

He even managed to get some sleep during the flight. And he had a dream about his father. In it he led him through the falcon and showed him a small niche where he wanted to hide something. That's what Ben is supposed to find now.

In an unnoticed moment, he set out to find something there. Behind two switch boxes he thought he could see something that did not belong there. But unfortunately he can't get to it. His hands are too big.

Before he can get any further involved, Poe announces their imminent arrival.

They land in a field near a small village. Behind it is a small winding path that leads directly to Varykino.

"O holy droid... have the girls been here all this time?!" Poe asks in horror.  
"Not that we spoiled Rose too much."  
No one pays any further attention to his comment, and they continue to run towards the enchanting villa.

Once inside, from one room they hear laughter and excited voices. Around a table their friends are sitting on cushions on the floor and seem to tell funny stories.

Luke is the first to greet them joyfully.  
"Welcome, space travelers!"

Sairah jumps up with joy and falls around Ti'es neck. He returns her stormy embrace and catches her lips in a very passionate kiss.

"Hey! Uhh..." Poe begins to point at Ben and points to the stranger among friends.  
"This is Lando Calrissian!" Ben introduces him loosely.

Finn and Poe express their joy at meeting a hero of rebellion. Chewy is delighted to see his old friend again and forces him effusively into a firm Wooky embrace, with lots of yelling and almost broken ribs.

But Ben has no sense for all this. Rey is not among them. Where is she?

Leia can recognize his unspoken question, but before she can say anything you can hear loud children's voices from the entrance area. Four small children rush into the fireplace room and towards Sairah who can break away from Ti'es.

Excitedly they ask where Lady Rey is and if she can show them magic tricks again.  
"No! She can't!" Luke insists strictly and the children make sad faces.

"She is not a kindergarten teacher who can teach you with little magic..."  
"No way!" Sairah defiantly interrupts him.  
"She's out to pasture with the Shaak. And I am sure she would love to show you some magic tricks." Sairah replies friendly and winks at them before they run away.

"Go after them!" she says to Ben.  
He gives a short bow and runs after the children.

"You're really good with kids, I can see..." mentions Lando dryly to Luke.

Ben comes after the children quickly. They run laughing over a suspension bridge that leads to a large meadow.

In the pasture the Shaak are spread out. In some book he had once seen a picture of these animals. They look funny and don't seem to be afraid of the children or Ben at all.

Then he sees why. In the middle of the pasture there is a huge animal. He had read about it once, too. It must be a tusked cat, he thinks.  
The tusk watches the newcomer attentively.

The grass is very high in some places, which is why Rey is not seen lying there. The children call joyfully: "Lady Rey! Can you do magic for us again?"

Then he hears the most beautiful sound in the world... her laughter. And suddenly, it's as if his heart just stopped.   
At one point down the hill, her head bursts out in the grass.

Quickly, the children run to her and stand around her. Rey, who is sitting cross-legged, picks up something from the ground and lets it float slowly. Ben, who is watching the whole thing from a distance, can now see that it is a purple Kleeos blossom, she had one of these in her hair on Xervos.

The children clap their hands enthusiastically. Then Rey raises both hands and around them more flowers appear and float in the air. It is a beautiful picture that he is presented with. It's as if she is forming a small universe with the flowers. The children run around excitedly and start to collect the flowers from the air.  
Rey watches the hustle and bustle amused until... she turns her head slightly to one side.

She gets up and turns to Ben. When she sees him, a happy grin forms on her face. Very slowly she walks up the hill to him, always looking him in the eyes.

As she stands before him, the children have also noticed the stranger. They watch intently as their Lady Rey and the tall stranger face each other. Then one of the children seems to understand the situation and makes an excited long "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh!" the others get into it, Rey turns red and looks embarrassedly smiling to the side. Ben raises a hand and more flowers rise, which float away before the eyes of the children to the suspension bridge. Laughing, they run after the flowers.

As soon as the children are gone, Rey puts both hands on Ben's chest and drives them up over his collarbone to his shoulders. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls herself up to him. He presses her tightly against him at the waist. Her feet are already floating in the air when their mouths meet.

The kiss is long and passionate.   
Like two thirsty people, they literally drink from each other and groan into the kiss.

They hardly notice it but for a few seconds a strange noise can be heard. As if thousands of invisible bells were ringing. It is a penetrating deep sound that everyone on Naboo can hear. For a moment, all beings on the planet look up and search for the source of the sound that sounds so pleasant and beautiful. But there is nothing to recognize. Even in the villa, everyone stands on the terrace and looks around.

And then it is already over. But the two responsible for this noise... haven't heard it.

In Rey's head, it's just a rushing. She's finally home. And so is Ben. Their hearts beat so wildly that they can feel each other's on their chests.

As their lips eventually separate, they look each other in the eyes for a moment. The joy that his eyes radiate is indescribable. It's as if he can't really believe that he's finally got her back.

"Will you please put me down?" asks Rey, who can feel something stirring in his deeper regions.

He smiles and puts her back on the ground. But she does not retreat. With a knowing smile, she takes him by the hand and pulls him with her.

Without resistance he follows her down the hill. Again and again he looks at their hands. At their crossed hands.  
He can hardly believe that they are walking hand in hand and a silly grin creeps onto his face.

Arriving at the waterfall she pulls him behind the thundering water masses. Once in the cave, she lets go of him and watches him look around in astonishment.

As soon as his back is turned to her she quickly starts to take off her tunic and shoes. At some point he can see in the semi-darkness that there is something lying on the floor. There are blankets and pillows...   
But he doesn't have to turn around to see what she is up to.

From behind she wraps her arms around him and starts to unbutton his shirt. When he stops her cheeky hands and turns to her, all she has on are her underpants and a tight short undershirt.

"Rey...!" he starts, but he can't continue because she puts a finger on his lips. Hurriedly, she continues her efforts on his shirt. He helps her and pulls it off his body as soon as all the buttons are unbuttoned. Quickly she reaches into his hair and pulls his face down to her. During the kiss she starts to loosen the buttons of his pants.

Ben can hardly think clearly when he briefly releases himself from the kiss and breathlessly says: "What if someone is standing in front of the waterfall, he can hear us." he protests.  
"They can't hear us outside... and no one knows about this cave..." she replies just as breathlessly kissing him and pushing him towards the ceilings on the floor.

That's all he needed to hear! When he reaches the blankets, he pushes her to the floor and lets her lie on her back. He takes off her shirt and starts to cover her breasts with gentle kisses. When he takes one of her nipples in his mouth she moans slightly. He missed her moaning so much.

By now, her breasts seem to be not only ticklish, but highly sensitive.  
And so he starts to massage her free breast with one hand. She likes it and when he bites her nipple very lightly she screams out for a moment. Then he circles her with his tongue and turns to the other breast.

Again and again he tickles her with the tip of his tongue, which makes her groan. But she doesn't seem to feel uncomfortable, as her hands claw into the ceiling at the sides. Carefully he runs his unshaven chin over her sensitive nipples, which makes her even more irritated. And when he also bites her second nipple very lightly, she screams out overwhelmed.

Still during the scream he slides down and takes off her panties. Without much time to lose he spreads her legs and kisses her from her right knee up her thigh. But before he gets to the place where her legs meet, he goes back and kisses her also over her left leg upwards.

When he finally reaches the place where she wants his mouth, he licks a strip over her already wet lower lips. When he brushes her clitoris with the tip of his tongue, she makes a frightened sound and jerks her hips upwards.

He puts her legs over his back and holds her abdomen in place with one arm.

Rey bites her knuckle in desperation as soon as he starts sucking her clit between his lips. 

He loves to bring her to a climax like that. As she falls apart and screams his name out loud, he moans into her pulsating cunt, ignoring her legs that wrap themselves around his head and his face crunches against her sex.

As soon as she gets her breath back and lies there like boneless, he works his way up to her with light kisses.

Arriving at her belly she falls into a small laugh.  
"Oh man! I really hope nobody heard that!"  
"Mmm your laugh! I missed it so much!" he says softly. She pulls his face up to her and kisses him briefly. After a little kiss on the nose she pushes him away.

"Please take off your pants!" she tells him. He obeys and lies naked beside her again. With one hand on his chest she forces him to lie on his back. As soon as she moves down, he holds her by the shoulders and says in a calm voice: "Rey! You don't have to do this."  
"But I want to!" she replies defiantly and lies down between his legs, just as he was lying a moment ago.

His limbs rise up in front of her. She slowly moves her tongue from the root to the tip. Then she circles it with her tongue and looks up at him. He has closed his eyes and breathes with audible difficulty. She slides her lips over him and picks him up in her mouth.

She goes up and down again, over and over again and pushes him a little deeper into her mouth each time. He moans louder with each time. When she lifts her head, he whimpers and begs: "Please don't stop! So good...so good...! Good girl!" and she goes on. This time she sucks even harder and he can hardly hold himself back. He puts his hands on the back of her head and directs her movements. But only very gently. She is still so inexperienced and he doesn't want her to choke on his cock even before the wedding... although he is attracted to the idea in some original way.

She can't suppress her own muffled moaning, because at that moment he shares his feelings with her and thus knows exactly how he likes it best. Moreover, she can feel that he is about to come and wants to break off the whole thing. But not this time. Shortly before he wants to get her away from there, she intensifies her efforts.  
"Rey! No... that... I don't want to... Oh Holy... Rey!" but he is no longer capable of clear thought. The next moment she has taken him deep inside herself he comes and completely discharges into her mouth and throat. "OHHHH MY GODDESS!" he yells out.

Rey waits until he has completely emptied himself, takes it out of her mouth with a wet sound and swallows what is still on her tongue.   
She decides that she doesn't really like the taste and won't let him come in her mouth as often in the future.

After she has wiped saliva and semen from her mouth with the back of her hand, she lies down next to him.  
He has still not been able to catch his breath and she is very proud of herself. She smiles contentedly as she carefully runs her fingertip over the scar on his chest. She has become less visible... and even the one on his face seems to have faded almost completely.

When he calms down again he looks at her and she lies halfway down on his chest. Her head rests on her hands. With a cheeky grin she stares at him.   
"So I am your goddess?!" she jokingly states. He laughs and strokes her back.  
"Yes! In my eyes you are a divine creature sent to destroy me." he explains jokingly back  
"Have I destroy you?" she asks playfully.   
_She is so sweet!_  
"For the moment!" he replies seductively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it again and I should warn you right away that there will be a dirty sequel in the next chapter.


	29. His girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey has a plan. Through blackmail, she gets where she wants to go. ^.-'

"How did you find this cave?"  
Rey, who's a little dozed off from the steady rush of water, gets a little startled. "How? What? The cave...!" She yawns a big yawn and snuggles up even closer to Ben.

"I felt something in here after a few days... a faint energy. I had found an injured twirrl here." she says quietly and draws gentle circles around his left nipple with her finger.

"What is a twirrl?" he asks, takes her hand and kisses her knuckles.  
"It's a flying animal... it's still at Varykino at the moment. Had an injured wing." she replies, frees her fingers from his hand and begins to gently stroke her fingernails over his belly and underneath. He acknowledges it with a soft hum.

When she has reached his belly button, she draws small circles around it and the hum turns into a slight growl. She ends her little game and lets her fingers move further down.  
He keeps a watchful eye on her as she takes his reawakening limb in her hand and massages it slowly. Now a moaning comes away from him and he lets his head fall back. Rey smiles triumphantly and ends her treatment.

"Can you explain to me..." she begins. "...why you don't like it when I nibble your earlobe?" she asks cheekily and strokes his hair behind his left ear. When she wants to start stroking the said part of his body with her finger, he turns and presses her on her back. She lets out a surprised scream when he suddenly lies on her with all his weight.

With dark eyes he fixes her and holds her wrists on both sides of her head.  
She puts her head to one side as he starts to cover her neck with light kisses and bites gently into it. A lustful moaning escapes her.

"I don't like it because it tickles unpleasantly!" he says at some point against her neck. The murmur of his voice on her skin gives her goose bumps and she begins to wriggle under him. With his knee he pushes her legs apart and lies between them, which makes her groan again.

He uses this moment and conquers her mouth with an intense kiss. He lets go of her wrists and supports himself as he pushes into her with a flowing movement. She wraps her arms around his neck and tightens her legs to be able to absorb him even deeper. He moves painfully slowly inside her and savours every intoxicating moment.

At some point he releases the kiss and looks at her.  
"Open your eyes Rey!" he asks her in a husky voice. She obeys him and looks at him for a long time. It is almost indescribable which feelings can be read in his eyes. The joy, the pain, the love... everything brings tears to her eyes and shows her how much he missed her.

Slowly he increases his speed and with every stroke his cock hits this wonderful spot in her, which makes her moan louder and louder.  
Burying his head in her shoulder, he gasps more and more violently.  
"Rey! My Rey...! Ah...! My light...! You are mine! Only mine! Say you're mine! Say it!' he kept wild.  
"I am yours... ...always... aaaahhhhh!" Impetuously he kissed and nibbled along her neck as he moved faster and faster inside her, driving her, and also himself, to a new climax.

As she screams out her orgasm and her walls cramp around his limb, he also moans loudly and bites her lower neck. The resulting pain turns into delicious ecstasy and intensifies her climax many times over.

After he has completely emptied himself into her, he collapses exhausted on top of her and slowly comes back to breath, just like her.  
But when he wants to roll off her she holds him tight and clings to him with her legs around his hip.

"Rey, I'm much too heavy for you." he whispers amusedly into her ear and tries to hold on to her elbows to put as little weight on her as possible. But she does not release him.  
"Please, stay like this for a moment...! Stay with me!"

Slowly he straightens his upper body and releases her arms around his neck. With a furrowed forehead he looks at her uncomprehendingly.

"Rey! I won't go away... not without you...! You won't get rid of me so easily now!" he assures her and gives her a light kiss on the nose.  
But she does not release him yet, holds his face with both hands and looks up at him.

"Promise me!" her voice is only a whisper.  
"I swear it!" he replies almost as whisperingly and rubs his nose against hers, before he withdraws from her moaning and lies down beside her. With one arm bent under his head, he gently strokes her naughty streak from her face with his free hand, smiling lovingly.

So they lie there for a while and just look at each other. Lost in each other's emotions. Rey just missed looking into his eyes.  
His eyes that fascinated her even back when he took off his helmet for the first time.  
His eyes, where she sees so much warmth now...

She was so scared the first time the hat sex.  
He told her once that everything he did to her was instinctive... but she was completely clueless and had no idea what she was doing.  
But he was so patient. He explained to her what he was going to do next, he kept quiet as her body got used to him and his size. And he whispered reassuringly in her ear. His words were like an anchor holding her to him.

After the thing at De'ostres, their relationship had changed. Of course they had become very close already on the base ... but the way they loved each other on De'ostres had made them both more mature.  
Their bodies were now completely attuned to each other and acted perfectly in battle, as in love.

At some point Rey shivers and Ben suggests slowly going to the house.  
While getting dressed they exchanged tender kisses and stroked each other's faces or hair.

Rey is not sure yet but she has the feeling that something has changed. He has changed... he is still very attentive and she feels like he is smiling a lot more. But maybe it's just the joy of seeing him again.

On the way across the pasture, the tusk cat comes towards them. Ben, who is carrying the blankets, wants to push Rey behind him to protect her from the predator. But she only laughs and approaches the animal uninhibitedly.

"Don't worry, he's completely tame." she says reassuringly and strokes the tusk over its head, which it thanks with a deep purr.  
Slowly the animal walks towards Ben and sniffs at his hand, which he carefully holds out to him. When he notices her smell on him, he presses his head against his hand and walks away again.

Rey smiles after the tusk. When she turns to Ben, he looks at her with an inscrutable look.

"What is it?" she asks in surprise.  
He casts another brief glance at the large creature that lies down in the grass between two shaaks and then back to his fiancée.  
"Oh nothing!" he replies smiling and continues walking towards the house.

Before they arrive at the house he wants to take her hand again, which she immediately takes away from him. Puzzled, he stops.  
"What is it now? I was allowed to take your hand in the meadow and now I can't?" he cannot hide a slightly angry undertone.

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow.  
"No, my dear! In the meadow, I took your hand!" she corrects him and continues to look at him defiantly.  
"That brings me to another subject!" she says and steps closer to him until her crossed arms touch his chest.

"I hope you enjoyed our little reunion in the cave?" she asks in a seductive voice. He smiles back happily.  
"More than pleased!" he replies in a rough voice.  
She looks deep into his eyes for a while and can read in them that he is planning similar actions with her for the night. She must smile at the thought of it.

Slowly she stands on her toes and whispers softly into his ear: "Good! Because you won't get into my panties again until we are at the base!  
With a nasty smile she takes a step back and waits for a reaction.

For a moment he seems to be in shock.  
"Are you saying that you don't want to sleep in the same bed with me anymore until I take you back to the base?" he asks half-uncomprehendingly.  
_Why would she want that?_ he thinks to himself.  
_Hasn't she had it as hard as I have in my absence?  
Almost every night I lay awake or went through some useless reports. Always thinking of her...  
And now...? ___

__"Well, of course we can sleep in the same bed... ...just not together!"  
And he looks at her with even less understanding.  
She distorts amused the eyes.  
"As long as we're not at the base... my legs stay closed!"  
Now he seems to understand._ _

__He comes one step closer and asks in a suspicious voice: "Are you blackmailing me right now?"  
Even though he doesn't quite agree... he likes the game._ _

__She moves her hands around his waist and hugs him.  
"Yes, does it work?" she asks cheekily.  
He doesn't have to think twice.  
"We could leave the day after tomorrow!" she laughs briefly and gives him a light kiss on the lips.  
"But in return you promise me a whole night and a whole day in bed!" he demands.  
"We'll talk about it." she replies amused and runs on._ _

__While he follows her grinning, he already makes a list in his croissant of the things he wants to do to her during a whole night and a whole day._ _

__

__When they arrive at the house they quickly let the blankets disappear before they are greeted by the others. Chewy happily approaches Rey and pulls her into a firm embrace, which she gladly returns. She has missed him too._ _

__Before Poe can greet her, she boldly says, "How is the Falcon?" Poe, who is already used to her nerves about the falcon, replies dryly: "Nice to see you again, little spitfire noodle!"  
Ben looks at him angrily for the comment (as do Rose and Sairah, who are about to join in) but Rey can only laugh at this dubious nickname.  
Finn, who shyly tries to greet her... she ignores, as usual, which brings a satisfied smile to Rose's face._ _

__

__In the evening everyone sits together in the fireside lounge and tells each other their experiences of the past weeks. Ben is especially interested in Rey's experience with the Titavian and the healing of the tuskcat. When he asks her directly who taught her a force healing, she cannot avoid him._ _

__"I have read that in the ancient jedi scriptures..."  
Then she catches Luke's intense gaze.  
"...that burned with the first Jedi Temple." She corrects herself.  
Luke raises an eyebrow in amusement.  
But Ben can sense that this was not the whole truth._ _

__

__The evening with their friends is very relaxed. Everyone is sitting on the floor on seat cushions again. Everybody eats and drinks, even Rey eats sensibly again... if she doesn't share her food with Drop or Nuck, who are always jumping on her lap. Ben looks at it with suspicion and wonders how a little Naboo - Rat (as he calls the Tooke) could have gotten to the Porg._ _

__Rey sits leaning against him on the left side of Ben, next to her Lando, Leia, Luke and Chewbacca, then Poe and next to him Finn and Rose, who keep on giving each other shy looks. Rey assumes that the two of them had a little talk before dinner. Sairah and Ti'es sit next to Rose, whispering something into each other's ears or (supposedly) exchanging little kisses unnoticed._ _

__The whole evening is very exuberant and Rey notices more and more that Ben also seems to be much more liberated since he is back. He laughs a lot and can even have a lively conversation with Poe and even Finn. And as usual, a lot of Naboo wine is flowing... only Rey drinks next to nothing. One day, when Ben wants to give her a drink, she waves her hand and says she's had enough._ _

__"Since when have you had enough wine? Usually I have to take the cup away from you sometime!" he says in surprise.  
"That's because our three Graces were very hungover one morning after they had drowned themselves in wine the night before." Luke replies and watches amusedly as Rey, Rose and Sairah blush in the face._ _

__Rey and Sairah take a sip of their water and Rose says quietly but audibly to everyone: "Well, at least it wasn't de'ostrian wine!"  
And immediately Rey and Sairah spurted out the water in shock and fell into a short cough._ _

__Everyone looks at the three girls questioningly. And Rey can feel Ben cramping slightly next to her.  
Finn (who else) then asks confusedly what, is _de'ostrian wine'_.  
"I think I've heard of it before... No, I've drunk it before... I think." Poe begins thoughtfully._ _

__"Hmmmmm... De'ostrian wine! That brings back memories." Lando muses with relish.  
"De'ostress... didn't you have that fabulous fight with the princess?" Poe asks Rey curiously. She has turned red in the meantime and only answers with a bang: "Yes!_ _

__"And what is so special about this wine now?" Finn asks Poe and Lando, still curious.  
"Well..." Lando begins and waves the Naboo wine in his glass.  
"...De'ostrian wine possesses a most... aphrodisiac properties... I once had a very passionate night with a beautiful Corellian woman and a bottle of De'ostrian wine."_ _

__Rey tells herself inside that she's not really surprised._ _

__"Ohh!" Poe replies in surprise.  
"That explains a lot." he says simply.  
Rose and Sairah, who by now have a few glasses of the Naboo wine behind them, have to stop giggling all the time.  
"I'm not surprised that you have some experience with this kind of thing...!" Finn says to Poe._ _

__"Rey has already had her own experience with this stuff..." Rose exudes with a giggle, and all eyes are on Ben and Rey.  
Rey becomes even redder and covers her eyes with one hand, annoyed and moaning._ _

__Rose and Sairah can no longer stop giggling until they catch Rey's gaze and recognize her dumbly words: _"You're as good as dead!"_ and suddenly have to swallow hard._ _

__

__The rest of the evening they listen to stories of Lando, for example how he gained control of the city in the clouds and how he lost it again later on while gambling._ _

__At some point Rey can no longer follow the stories and dozes off slightly, leaning on Ben's shoulder.  
"I think Rey should slowly go to bed." Leia says to her son, who has been watching his fiancée with a dreamy love look the whole time._ _

__Quietly but audibly for everyone he whispers in her ear: "Rey! Please put your arm around my shoulder."  
She obeys and puts her arm around his shoulder, grumbling slightly, which he asks for with "Good girl!"._ _

__"Oh, that's not fair!" Poe muttered.  
"Why does he get to call her a girl, and once I call her that, she nearly tears my head off?" he complains.  
Ben just calmly replies, "It's because she's just _my_ girl!" and with these words he rises with her in his arms and carries her away. What no one sees is Rey smiling amused... because he is right. She is just _his_ girl! __

____

__Everybody looks at them and at some point Sairah gives a long sigh and says: "I don't know but somehow they are...". "...totally cute together!" adds Rose enthusiastically. Together the two give a deep sigh.  
"I'd say the bar has just been set really high for you two." says Poe amusedly to Finn and Ti'es.  
Then Chewy gives him a pat on the back of the head. (He deserved it! XD) 

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a nice weekend. 
> 
> Stay healthy!  
> Your Lori ❤


	30. Refined carbonite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey enforces her plan with blackmail and Ben looks for creative ways to get around it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sry for the two days off. Had a lot of work and little time.

In the night Ben and Rey were able to sleep dreamlessly, calmly and firmly. He had put her fully clothed in bed, just taking off her and his shoes.  
And then he laid down with her like this. He had pulled her close and hugged her tight. Face down in her hair and breathing in her smell, he fell asleep surprisingly quickly.

The next morning, it is she who awakens first. Her head lies in the bend of his neck and she looks up carefully. Again she admires how peaceful and boyish he looks when he sleeps.

Without waking him, she gets up and goes to the bathroom. After a long shower she wraps herself in a towel and starts to dry her hair when he enters the room.  
"Why didn't you wake me up? We could have showered together." he rebukes.  
"Nice try!" she replies amused.

He looks at her with protected lips for a moment. She seems to make good on her threat. But the game tears him apart. Without further warning, he undresses in front of her and simply drops his clothes on the floor. She is surprised for a moment and cannot take her eyes off him. 

When he enters the shower cubicle he looks at her for a moment and offers her: "You can come back in again if you like."  
She feels caught and looks away embarrassed, whereupon he smiles with satisfaction. 

For a short time she really thinks about getting into the shower with him.   
The bastard doesn't even close the shower door when he turns on the water. In the mirror hanging opposite the shower she can see the water running down his body. Rey has to swallow hard and decides to leave the room before she finally gives in.

She quickly gets dressed and leaves the room, fearing that he will come out of the bathroom at any moment and continue with his little peep show.

On the way to the terraces, where the twirrl sits on a pole, she curses herself for her so obvious weakness. Again and again she has to think back to how the steaming water flowed over his pale skin. Over his face, his neck, his broad chest, up to his well-formed stomach and... "Good morning Lady Rey!"  
Rey pulls up in horror as Tahneka greets her friendly.   
With a high red head, she approaches her chest and greets her back, slightly out of breath.

"Um... I was just about to feed the twirrl." says the manager.  
Then Rey sees the bowl with the raw meat in Tahneka's hand, takes it from her and offers to feed him herself. Tahneka walks away gratefully and Rey goes on. She can use the distraction right now.

The patient emits an agitated scream as Rey steps to him with breakfast. In the meantime he has recuperated well. She would release him today or tomorrow. She is overcome with a slight sadness at the thought and strokes him briefly over the head as he eats the first piece.

"He has recovered very well!"   
Master Luke, as usual, approached her unnoticed. Meanwhile she doesn't flinch when he suddenly appears. He wears his brown robe as usual and looks at her with interest.  
"Yes, I will release him soon."  
"You could have cured him earlier."   
He alluded to her force healing.  
"The tusk would have died if I hadn't heald him... but the twirrl could recover on its own." she says truthfully and continues to feed him.

"Rey! Even if I haven't read through all the texts, I know that they don't say a word about something similar to a force-healing." he says calmly and strokes the animal carefully over the healed wing. Rey simply decides to ignore him and continue feeding the twirrl.

"Where did you learn this?" he now asks her directly.   
Rey chews nervously on her lower lip. She can't possibly avoid him any further.

"Would you believe me if I told you I saw it in a dream?" she asks confused.  
He does not have to think long.   
"Was it a prophetic dream then?"  
Rey thinks for a while and then decides to confide in him.

"I'm not sure but... I think I was talking to my child in this dream... with my future child."   
As she finishes, she looks at him intensely.  
Luke seems stunned, but then quickly recovers.  
"I'm not surprised."   
Now it's Rey who's confused.  
"Well... if you and Ben are going to be parents one fine day, very special blood will flow through this child's veins. A child with two force-using parents...? By the code the Jedi followed... such a thing is rare... or even impossible."

Rey remembers the code of conduct the Jedi used to follow and how far she has come from such a path.  
"Yet it is a paradox! But nothing surprises me anymore... with you and my nephew!" Luke says friendly, puts his hand briefly to her cheek, smiles and walks away.

Rey turns around and looks into the distance.  
A child with two force-using parents... even though he will have incredible power... she knows with absolute certainty... that she would never give him away.  
Even though she adores Leia and loved Han, they decided to give Ben to Luke... Snoke prepared the way to darken his heart. She doesn't know how, but she's sure she would never make such a mistake.

She feels his presence without having to turn around. So she only smiles when Ben puts his arms around her from behind and kisses her neck.   
"There you are."   
Happily, she puts her hands on his arms and holds him tight. Together they look at the beautiful landscape and enjoy each other's warmth.

"How much of the conversation did you overhear?" asks Rey, who can already see through her fiancé quite well.  
"Do you mean the conversation with my uncle or your inner monologue?" he asks back with a slight mischief.

Rey is not at all thrilled that he could once again listen to her thoughts so easily.  
"Shall we talk about those dreams sometime?" he asks without beating about the bush.  
"You can search for them in my thoughts!" she poisons him, releases herself from his embrace and wants to walk away.  
"Rey!" he holds her by the hand.  
"Please forgive me! I'm not doing this out of bad faith."  
Even though he (once again) holds her hand firmly, she still wants to forgive him quickly. By the cute look he gives her.

"Why is it so easy for you to read my thoughts and not me yours? I mostly just receive your feelings... or the thoughts you send me on purpose." she asks angrily.  
"That's because I've gained a little more mental experience with my age than you have."  
"Creapy old man!" she says dryly and, just like him, cannot help but laugh a little.

"Can you do me a favour?" he asks cautiously.  
"NO!" she says loudly, because she suspects what he wishes for.  
He hesitates for a moment, but then smiles again.  
"Even if you can't receive all my thoughts, believe me when I tell you that I don't think of only one thing at a time!"   
Then he gives her a little kiss on the cheek, goes in front and pulls her along.  
But she stubbornly stops and grumbles briefly. "Where are you going?" she asks stubbornly.  
"To the falcon."  
"Oh... ok!" she answers and walks ahead without resistance.  
Ben can only smile, shaking his head.

At the falcon, Rey wants to check the mechanics right away, because she thinks Poe is capable of stewing everything through again. But Ben has other plans and leads her to the two switch boxes, behind which he suspects a hidden property of his father.

He briefly tells her about the dream and asks her to reach inside to get the item out. Her eyes become very soft when she hears about the dream. She is happy that he could share such a moment with his father.

She does him the favour and reaches in without any problems. She can actually feel something, but she doesn't reach so easily and at some point she has to ask Ben, annoyed, if he can lift her a bit so that she can reach in.

With that he tries to stop laughing and grabs her thighs with his arms and lifts her carefully a little bit. At some point she can grab a cube-shaped object that fits her hand exactly.  
"Okay, I've got it, put me back down!" she says and pulls out a small square box.

"What is it?" she asks curiously as she hands it to him.  
"I don't know. Let's find out!" he replies and opens the little box. They are both not badly surprised when a ring comes out. A silver ring with a light grey crystal in the setting.

"May I see that?" Leia asks friendly, who suddenly appears behind Rey and holds out her hand expectantly.  
Without a second thought Ben hands his mother the box with the ring inside.  
"I wonder what kind of stone it is." Rey says into the budding silence. 

Leia looks at the ring with a strange expression in her eyes. You'd almost think she was about to cry.  
"This is refined carbonite."   
Ben and Rey understand right away. Anyone who knows the stories of Han Solo knows that he was frozen in carbonite when they delivered him to the Hutt.

"It was with this ring that Han proposed to me that day." she says with a wistful smile.  
"Then why was it hidden here?" Rey asks in surprise.  
"Because he stole it from me at some point." she says calmly, looking Rey in the eye.  
"That... is complicated and not so easy to explain..." she says and hands Ben the box.  
"But it's your ring!" he protests.   
But Leia insists that he takes it.  
"He told you where it is. So now it's yours... You'll know what to do with it!" she says and wants to turn around to leave when she looks at the place once more.  
"But that he hid it here of all places..." she says, lost in thought.

What neither Ben nor Rey know is that Leia is thinking back at this moment to how Han had kissed her for the first time at this place.  
Lightly smiling she walks away and Rey looks after her in surprise.

"Why did your father want you to get this ring?" she asks and turns to him. But he is no longer standing before her. He kneels in front of her and holds up the ring.  
"What are you doing? Why are you kneeling?" she asks him startled.   
Leia, who can still hear Rey's outburst, smiles inside and goes on happily.

"You never really said yes... or rather, I never... I never really asked you." he tries to explain.  
"Ben, I'll marry you. You don't have to..." "Rey please!" he quickly interrupts her.  
She exhales and lets him continue.

"Rey... Just Rey from nowhere in Jakku! You are my second half, my soul mate. Without you, I can't breathe, sleep, or eat! I want to lay the universe at your feet... love you, hold you, and never let go! Please be my wife! Please say yes!"

Even though she knew or at least suspected everything he said, she still cried. She lets him put the ring on her finger, kneels down, wraps her arms around his neck and starts to kiss him gently. He returns the kiss and pulls her close to him. As they separate to catch their breath, she breathes a small "Yes!" into his ear. He looks happily into her eyes and she repeats, "Yes, Ben Solo, I will be your wife!" 

He jumps up and lifts her up at the waist. He turns her around once, lets her down slowly and looks her in the eyes the whole time. Slowly he pushes her backwards until her back is against a wall.

Very carefully his lips touch hers and after a short time the kiss becomes more and more demanding. And she gladly gives in to his tongue, which is asking to be let in, and gives in to a passionate play of tongues.

At some point she hears his voice echoing in her head. 

_You said that your legs remain closed, but against a kissing and some fumbling you have nothing against ... or?_

Amused, she smiles into the kiss and enjoys how he runs his hand over her body and leaves a burning hot trail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers!  
> Tomorrow we will be back again.   
> Until then, all the best and stay healthy!
> 
> Your Lori ❤️


	31. Farewell to Naboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time to leave Naboo...

They spent about half an hour in the falcon _kissing and fiddling_ until at some point their stomachs started to rumble and they laughingly decided to go back to the villa for breakfast.

Arriving at the house, Sairah already welcomes them and joyfully tells Rey that the children from the village have already been back to see them perform magic and announced that the tailor Horsia Mekato would come after breakfast to deliver the finished wedding dress.

Rey is delighted and has to realize that the excitement of the past few days had made her almost forget about the dress.

"Can I see the dress then?" Ben asks curiously.  
"No!" Sairah insists.  
"You'll see it at the wedding!"  
Rey cannot stand in the way of this argument and just shrugs her shoulders apologetically.

Rey can't stop being amazed. That wedding dress is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. Floor-length, with a long train. Flowery white with a flaming pattern on the skirt. At the back and the arms up to the shoulders the pattern appears in an elegant tattoo look. It shows a lot of skin, but Rey feels incredibly comfortable in that dress. Everywhere in the pattern there are small grey and purple crystals woven into the pattern, giving the dress an enchanting shimmer.

"It looks breathtaking." says Rose.  
Sairah is already crying and she has turned around in shame to dry her eyes with a cloth.  
Horsia looks up at Rey and nods in agreement.

"Sairah! Could you please get Leia here? I want her to see it too." Rey asks her maid and has her own ulterior motive. Sairah immediately goes out obediently and Rey sees her chance.  
Horsia has understood immediately and takes out a second garment bag. Rose and Rey admire the beautiful white dress that the seamstress has made for Sairah.  
"It will look great on her! I will put my hand in the fire for it." warbles the lady and hangs it up in the wardrobe after the girls are astonished. Rose would hang it in her room later and take it to the base without Sairah noticing.

"You have really delivered your masterpiece!" Leia says in an astonished voice and enters the room smiling. Slowly she approaches Rey, beaming with joy, and gives her a kiss on every cheek.

"Yes, I really succeeded very well." Horsia confirms and also stands next to Rey, who is still looking happily at herself in the mirror.  
"Just... I hope she won't wear bite marks at the wedding, because a scarf around her neck would ruin the whole dress!" she says with a discreet finger pointing at Rey's neck, which is marked by a bite mark.

At the reunion in the cave the day before, Ben had bitten her neck in ecstasy. Leia had seen that immediately before the others came rushing towards her to greet her.

Looking back:

_"I seem to remember asking you to keep such wounds invisible!" she rebuked her son and pointed to Ray's maltreated neck._

_She touched the sore skin and realized with a small prick that it hurt her.  
"You idiot!" she moaned and struck Ben on the chest with the flat of her hand._

_Felt a thousand times he apologized and watched Leia tie a scarf around his fiancée's neck which she then wore all the time._

But she could hardly keep it on for a fitting. Rose and also Sairah now have a closer look at the place. The situation is very unpleasant for Rey right now. Serves her right that she didn't stop him when he bit into her during the climax... Even though it was an incredibly hot feeling.

Luckily the girls were silent and didn't tease her about the fact that her lovemaking was very wild.

In the evening they all visited the village together, where a party was held to say goodbye to their visitors.  
The Naboo from the small village revered Rey like a heroine and asked her to come back one day. Especially the children were looking forward to a reunion with the enchanting queen, as they called Rey by now.

In the night, Rey and Ben slept arm in arm again, calm and peaceful. And the next morning they went out early with the twirrl and let it go back into the wilderness.

Rey watched him for a long time and felt a deep pain despite the joy of his recovery. He possessed a freedom that she had given up months ago for all this. She would never again be able to fly free and experience the adventures she wanted. But at least they would soon be back at the base and she would be with Ben ... that's all that matters right now.

With a melancholy smile she says goodbye to Varykino and the lake country of Naboo. Deep down, she knows she would come back one day... ...with her son!  
The thought of this makes her heart beat faster and brings a big smile to her face.

Even before she enters the falcon she hears Finn exclaim: "Boaa! Guys we're in trouble, there's a big monster running towards us!" he yells and points to the tusk cat, which is approaching them quickly.

A few metres before the group it stops and waits. Ben and Rey slowly walk towards it and stop Finn and Poe from shooting the animal with a blaster.

Rey stands directly in front of her good friend and puts her forehead against the head of the purring animal.  
"Take good care of everything!" she asks the tusker and crawls under his head once more.

Then he steps briefly to Ben and leans his head against his forehead for a moment. Then he turns around again and runs back to his Shaak herd. 

Rey watches him for a few more moments until she notices Ben's hand that he gives her. Smiling, she takes it and squeezes it for a moment.  
Then they go back together to the amazed group. (Of course not hand in hand...😜)

Finn and Poe have distributed some boxes in the lounge, which should serve as seating. With eleven people, three Droids, the Porg and the Tooke, the ship has become very crowded and everyone is happy that the flight to the base will not take very long.

While they travel through hyperspace Sairah and Chewy again deliver a game of Dejarik, which the young Twi'lek seems to win with ease. C3PO keeps talking in between that it would be a healthier strategy to let the Wooky win, as it would allow her to keep all her limbs with her.

After a while Ben and Rey retreated unnoticed into the area with the switch boxes and continued their smooching from the day before. BB8 wanted to interrupt them briefly and tell them that a fierce argument had broken out in the lounge whether Sairah or rather Chewy was cheating at the game.  
But Ben had only mumbled "Move ball!" to him for a short time and then concentrated again on Rey's lips, which a giggle couldn't hold back.

A little later they all met for dinner in the lounge, with Ben sitting next to Rey and watching in a bad mood as she shared her meal with the Porg and the Tooke. However, he had spared any comment as he knew that he would not win without it.

Ben had sneaked into the cockpit in an unnoticed moment to contact Tahe Lou. According to Rey's instructions, he should have something prepared.

Sairah jumped around Rey after the Dajarik game and warbled happily about what she wanted to prepare for the next days as the big wedding would take place in less than two weeks on Chandrila.

"I have a lot of hairstyles to try and make up! Oh, I have such a great idea and jewelry! I hope you do not insist on this necklace! I'm sure we can get you some really nice jewelry..."  
It went on like this the whole time and Rey didn't say a word.

She only smiled because she knew very well that Sairah would not have much time for anything in the next days.  
Only with the thing with her necklace she had to call in between.

"That all sounds very nice (no! It did not!) but I don't need any other jewellery! This necklace is perfectly adequate!" she insisted vehemently. As a sign of expression, she reached for the purple crystal on the silver chain, which Ben had returned to her the day before.

"Oh boy! But you could wear so much more beautiful... I mean, you had been given a necklace with colourful beads and small carvings by the children from the former slave village, and you even left it in the base back then, so why does it have to be this necklace?"  
"Because I didn't get this necklace as a present from little children." she explains simply and remembers the evening when Ben put the necklace on her. At that time they had decided to share a room. For Rey this moment meant a lot, since she had never spent so much time with anyone else as she had with Ben.

"At least the ring looks reasonable!" Sairah surrenders with a groan.  
Unconsciously she must have put her hand on the tabletop. She has often caught herself turning the ring on her finger and watching the light in the carbonite crystal. Rose, sitting on the bench between the two, takes Rey's hand in hers and looks at the ring for a moment.

"It is really beautiful! What kind of stone is this? It looks very unusual." she asks curiously. Rey turns a little red and replies embarrassed: "This is refined carbonite."

"Carbonite?!" Sairah blurts out.  
"Why bother refining this stuff?"  
Rose and Rey look at the Twi'lek in shock, completely amazed at their sudden outburst.

"My former master once hired a bounty hunter to find a runaway slave... who had delivered his target frozen in carbonite... Creepy! And that guy. A Mandalorian. They wear helmets all the time!" she says in disgust.

"I don't understand how you can trust a man who always hides his face behind a mask."  
"I don't trust such people either, on principle!" Ben comes in between, who just enters the lounge and gives Sairah a little fright with his words.  
Rey has to smile as he testifies. And again she asks herself what has become of his mask.

The two look at each other in love for a moment until he adds: "We will soon leave hyperspace. So if you..."  
"Oh, yes! Rose, are you coming?" she interrupts him quickly and pulls Rose along by the hand. Sairah remains frowning and watches the two of them retreat into the crew cabin.

After some time they leave hyperspace as promised.  
"Wow! What's gotten into you?" Sairah asks in surprise as Rey and Rose come out again. Both have put on a big grin and both wear pretty dresses.  
"I have never seen you in a dress before." the Twi'lek expresses her amazement as she looks at Rose.

The two women are wearing plain, long, poor dresses that don't quite reach the ground. Rose wears a grey and blue dress and Rey a rather grey and green one. Both dresses are very similar in form and seem to be in tune with each other.

"It's about time you put on your dress!" says Rose joyfully.  
"But unlike you, I actually always wear dresses... as a good chambermaid it's the proper thing to do!" Sairah replies proudly.  
"Now come on! We have to hurry!" says Rey a bit more impatient but still with a smile. Now the Twi'lek becomes suspicious, especially when the two of them grab her by the arms and pull her along.

It's pitch dark in the crew cabin, but the two of them manage to undress her and change her dress. Still during the change of clothes they feel how they land on the planet. And after some time the three enter the lounge again.

The others have already left the ship. Sairah is more than surprised by the strange action but doesn't say a word for now. Until Rose holds a mirror in front of her and she can see the dress they put on her in the dark.  
Totally stunned she cries. The dress is pure white and nestles beautifully against her body.

"This is a wedding dress!" she breathes breathlessly. (*)  
"Horsia has made a second dress. It was meant to be a surprise!"  
"You have succeeded!" Sairah calls in between and gives Rose and Rey a big hug.

"Thank you so much!" brings them out in tears.  
"We should be on our way." Rey interrupts.  
"Your groom is waiting for you!"  
Sairah only now seems to understand and bursts into tears completely. The gratitude she feels now is beyond words. She is so happy to call Rose and Rey her friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my dears.
> 
> Funny! The sentence with the (*) reminds me of an old German-Czech fairy tale movie in which the main character says exactly the same thing.
> 
> Three hazelnuts for Cinderella, is still hyped like crazy here today! 😍  
> (And runs at Christmas time estimated 50 times on all channels on TV.🤣)
> 
> See you tomorrow and stay healthy!  
> Love to your Lori ♥


	32. The marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sairah and Ti'es wedding takes place and Rey has a promise to keep.

The falcon was landed on the large meadow near the edge of the forest. In front of them is the path that leads directly to the village. Outside the ship Finn, Poe and Ben are waiting for them. Rose immediately stands next to Finn and grabs his arm and Rey does the same with Ben.

"I may not be your father... but it would be a great honor to be your Bridal Guide." Poe offers the happy bride and walks in front of her. She smiles approvingly and puts her arm around his.

One by one they walk down the path to the village.  
Once there, all the inhabitants are spread out around the large square and hum a soft song as they arrive. At the end of the path is Tahe Lou, who will perform the wedding ceremony, and next to him is Ti'es in a grey officer's uniform.

When Rey looks at Ben and want to asks him, he replies quietly, "He's just been promoted!" and winks at her. Rey just grins happily.

Rose and Rey stand on the left side, Finn and Ben on the right next to Ti'es. Poe hands the bride over to the groom and stands next to Ben.  
At some point during the ceremony, Rey doesn't pay any attention at all. Eventually her gaze meets Ben's and they are caught in each other. All the time they look at each other and seem to forget the world around them completely until everyone around them suddenly bursts into cheers. The bridal couple kisses each other and the two of them join in the applause with reddened cheeks.

Roh'lett and the other Twi'lek of Xervos sing and dance to celebrate the day for the couple and there is much dancing, laughing, drinking and eating.

At some point Ben stands with Ti'es and congratulates him. Rey watches the scene in amazement. Even though this name is absolutely out of place with Ben, Ti'es probably comes closest to a good ... if not his best friend.

Happily, she lets her gaze wander over the company. Sairah is surrounded by a bunch of girls who all excitedly take her in their arms and congratulate her. Poe seems to be flirting with Roh'lett..., with success. Finn and Rose are sitting a little way away from each other, having an animated conversation. Rey registers with pleasure that he holds her hand the whole time. And then she sees Tahe Lou, Lando and Chewbacca standing together. The three seem to be laughing at something and suddenly Rey gets the idea that the three already know each other. Which would mean...

"I was very surprised to see Tahe here..." Leia interrupts her thought and sits down with her.  
"Lando, Chewy and Tahe have known each other for a long time... and he was also very good friends with Han. Until they fell out about 27 years ago." says the older woman calmly.

Rey is amazed. Tahe knew Han... did he know who Kylo Ren was from the beginning?  
Even before she can formulate her question, Leia already answers her.  
"Tahe came to visit us often when Ben was two or three years old."

A little insecure she stares at Ben, who is still talking to Ti'es and laughing about something.  
"Does Ben know about this?" she asks cautiously.  
"To be perfectly honest... I don't know. But if he did or he didn't, what difference would it make?"

Rey agrees with her on the inside... what would it change?!  
"Where is Luke anyway?" she asks after a while, and looks around the crowd for him.  
"He hasn't left the Falcon as far as I know..."  
"Ahhh! Princess Leai Organa! You are a feast for the eyes as always!" Tahe approaches her with arms wide open, helps her up and gives her a light kiss on both cheeks.  
"Tahe! You're an old whisker, as always!"

Rey manages to retreat unnoticed and makes her way to the falcon. The hustle and bustle of the village is nothing to her right now and she wants to check on Drop and Nuck she left in the ship.

Once there she finds Luke bent over one of the Jedi texts.  
"Have you read this part yet?" he asks her without even looking up and points into the book. Rey sits down wordlessly, rolling her eyes, next to him and looks at the opened page. It is the very short explanation of the dyad in the force.

"Yes, but it is not very detailed." she says.  
"The dyad also called, the dual sound of the force ... ...leads to the harmony of all being." he quotes from the text.  
"Yes, but I don't understand."  
"Really?" he asks curiously and looks at her expectantly.  
"No... what does it mean in your opinion?" she asks back and must refrain from pulling a face.

For a long time he just looks at her and seems to weigh up whether she is speaking the truth.  
"Well... you'll find out!" he says smiling. Rey is rather disappointed by this statement and twists her eyes with a sigh. She is already about to give him her opinion when Ben's clearing his throat attracts her attention.

"Rey! Would you please come with me!" he asks her. This one looks at Luke again.  
"Go ahead! You can shout at me later." he says amusedly. Rey doesn't find this funny at all and raises an eyebrow.  
"But please don't forget your bag." Rey catches her as he throws it to her. In surprise, she puts the bag on her back and walks out with Ben.

"Did you want to argue with my uncle again?" he asks at some point and walks slowly back towards the village.  
"He's hiding something from me and it's bothering me!" 

Ben has to keep a smile away from himself.  
"I don't really think my uncle is a stupid person... but anyone who deliberately keeps things from you... ...is an idiot."  
"Is that a promise you won't lie to me anymore?" she asks with a slight grin.  
  
Ben has to laugh a minute.  
"I know what you're getting at, and yes, I promise I'll never keep you in the dark about my plans again."  
"I'm glad you understand." she says spitefully. He puts his arm around her shoulder and kisses her hair.

Just before they reach the first houses in the village, he leads her along the trees and back into the forest.  
"What is it? Shall we go back to the party?" she asks confused.  
"No! Let's not! We will return to the base." He replies without looking at her.  
"Oh, we will?" she asks defiantly and frowningly.

She looks back at the village square from which song and laughter waft across to them.  
Sairah would surely be angry with them for leaving their wedding party early. But before she can think about it any further, a sound resounds nearby that is very familiar to her.  
The screaming of a varactyl. And indeed, in a few meters in front of them, the two varactyls stand between the trees. They seem to have noticed Rey and Ben and are getting a bit more restless.

"Mio and Jasha are here?!"  
"I thought you might enjoy a little ride..."  
Rey looks at him suspiciously.  
"Why do you want to go back to the base so badly?" she asks and looks him straight in the eye.

"I just wanted to surprise you and it's not dark yet so we can still get through the forest without any problems... Well, then... I also have my own motives to bring you back to the base as soon as possible."  
"Such as?"

Instead of answering, Ben puts her face between his hands and gives her a gentle kiss. But a gentle kiss won't be enough. His hands go down her neck to her waist and hips. Then he pulls her closer and she automatically puts her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss even more.

Then she can feel which motives he is pursuing and she breaks away from him abruptly.  
"You want to get me into bed?!" she asks slightly startled.  
"Yes!" he replies only briefly and desperately and waits.  
She does not have to think long and runs to the green varactyl.

Jascha seems to recognize her again and already raises her head so that Rey can scratch her scaly neck. After a short time she sits down and lets Rey climb up. To get into the saddle properly she has to push the dress up quite far, so that one of her legs is exposed up to her thigh.  
Ben seems to have noticed it, because she can watch him swallow hard. And the next moment he gives his varactyl the order to run.

The ride passes quickly and soon they arrive at the base. There is almost nobody at the hangar, only the two men dressed in brown leather are standing there and taking the reins of the animals.

"Where is everybody?" Rey asks as she lets Ben help her to dismount.  
"Most of the soldiers who came back from MΛ will probably be on their way to the village to join the party... so it couldn't be better!"  
"Why... what do you mean?" she asks as he takes her by the hand and quickly moves into the building.  
"Because nobody knows we are here. That buys us more time!" he moves so fast that she can hardly keep up.  
"What do you mean? What do we need more time for?" she still asks confused.  
But he doesn't answer and just walks on quickly.

Eventually she realizes that they are not on their way to their accommodation... but before she wants to ask where he is dragging them, she notices where they are going.  
After a few more steps they reach her former room. Once inside, Ben pushes her against the wall next to the door, closes the door and locks it with a numerical code.

"Why didn't we go to our room?" she asks, but gets no answer.  
Without warning he presses her against the wall with his whole body and closes her mouth with a wild and demanding kiss. She can hardly defend herself against it and above all she doesn't want to. To support herself a little, she puts her hands on his shoulders. There is no room in her head for anything else but his mouth, his tongue and this incredible fire that his touch triggers in her.

When he presses his knee between her legs, she separates from him and looks at him, breathing heavily.  
"Ben?!" she breathes invitingly.  
"You promised me!" he murmurs with a rough voice that gives her a pleasant tingling sensation.  
"What?... What have I promised?" she asks completely confused by his breath on her neck.  
"You promised me that I could have you in bed for a whole night and a whole day if I brought you back to base!"

Rey has to swallow. She remembers him saying something like that once...  
One whole night... and one whole day... Apart from wondering if she's going to survive this... a pleasant tingling sensation spreads between her legs. A slight moaning escapes her as he rubs his knee against her sensitive middle. Then he leans away from her and looks at her forcefully. He waits..., he waits for her permission.

"Then let's go to bed!?" she suggests breathlessly. He lets her go again and is already walking towards the bedroom. On the way there, he pulls his shirt over his head.  
Rey stops for a short time, breathing heavily, leaning against the wall and prepares herself inwardly for what follows next...  
_I can hardly wait!_ She thinks to herself, as she detaches herself from the wall, let left the bag and follows him into the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear ones!
> 
> I wish you all a good Thursday.  
> Stay well and till you tomorrow!
> 
> Your Lori ❤


	33. A short time-out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There' s one or two little surprises waiting for Ben...

In the middle of the night, Rey wakes up. She's very warm. She and Ben are lying in bed together tightly wrapped. He is still sleeping and she is very gently pulling away from him. As soon as she leaves the bed, she goes straight into the bathroom.

Her stomach is growling terribly and she regrets that they did not take more food with them. But that's Ben... he thinks little with his head when his heart is talking... or any other part of his body.

On the way back through the living area she almost stumbles over her bag, which she dropped on the floor earlier.  
Something slips out of the bag. It's the little bundle Luke gave her on Naboo. She remembers what he had asked her to do. Not to open it until Ben was with her.

She doesn't have to think twice before she unzips the bundle. With her mouth open, Rey looks at the object in her hand. Then she reaches back into the bag and pulls out something else. She holds them both next to each other and compares them.   
Luke has given her a second lightsaber. In one hand she holds the saber that belonged to Luke and before that to his father Anakin. And in the other she holds a finer, very filigree lightsaber. In the bundle of cloth lies a written piece of paper, which she takes out and reads through.

_Leia asked me to give you this.  
Luke_

Very brief explanation... Typical Luke!

It was Leia's. Rey had heard that Luke had trained her to be a Jedi before Ben was born.  
Now she sits here naked on the floor and holds two lightsabers in her hands, which seem to swing in a strange way.

The one sword she had called to Takodana... it was meant for her.  
She was afraid of the visions it showed her. But in time, it became her confidante... her companion. But was it really meant to be?

And the other sword. It once served Leia... but she feels no connection to her. There's nothing about the sword that points to her. It feels like the two swords are twins, meant to serve together... side by side.

She wraps the note in the cloth and puts it back in the bag, which she puts on the sofa. Then she goes into the bedroom and puts both swords on the bedside table.

With a smile she looks at her fiancé. He has turned on his back in his sleep, put one hand on his chest and stretched the other arm to the side. Thus he takes the whole bed for himself, which unfortunately is only the size of a single bed. But before, neither of them had been bothered by the fact that it is only so small. They did not need much space to enjoy themselves.

Carefully she cuddles up to his side and puts her head on his outstretched arm.  
Silently, she looks at his face.  
He looks satisfied... he has every reason to be!

He had recovered quickly each time and spurred her on to a new round. Until one day they both fell asleep exhausted. But now he is so peaceful. She can hardly believe that this man had kept her so busy the last hours.  
She wonder if his passion for her would wear off with time. Will it?

She realizes that she's never felt as much for anyone in her life as she felt for him. He's her exact opposite. Where she's round, he's square. Where she is light, he is dark. And where she is weak, he is strong... and vice versa.

One hand rests on his chest and his steady heartbeat calms her. Slowly she drifts into a dream... he's already waiting for her...

_A slight tickle disturbs her. Confused, she frowned... there was a butterfly on her nose. A pretty blue butterfly. Very carefully, it folds its wings together and apart, making them shimmer beautifully. Then it flutters away, leaving behind a fine trail of glittering dust.  
Rey rises and follows him with her eyes. She sits back in the pasture in Naboo. And down by the waterfall he squats, her little Grey. The tusk lies beside him and keeps a close eye on him._

_Smiling, she watches him. As she is about to get up to approach him, she is almost startled. Looking around. Up the hill she sees Ben._

_He looks at her with big, unbelieving eyes. But something is different...  
He seems more adult... more mature. He's wearing clothes she's never seen on him before.  
There's a symbol above his heart that she knows from somewhere.  
She approaches him cautiously._

_"Is this a dream?" he asks confusedly.  
She must smile... he is really here... just like her.  
"Do you think it's a dream?" she asks amused.  
"I have often had dreams like this. When I walk through an impenetrable labyrinth and don't know what I'm looking for. And whatever I just can't find. But this time I found a door... and behind the door... I came here, to you! If it's a dream, it's a beautiful dream!" he whispers at the end._

_Rey can hardly hold back her tears.  
"You have no idea how beautiful...!"  
Then she turns around and directs his gaze to the waterfall where the little boy is just turning and waving happily up. The next moment he jumps up and runs towards them._

_Ben looks at the little black-haired boy in amazement. He looks so much like him... he looked just like him as a little boy... only not so happy.  
"Is that...?" he starts, but he can't keep talking because his voice breaks.  
Rey just smiles happily at him._

_As soon as the little boy arrives, he laughs loudly and jumps towards Ben, who catches his flight and holds him close.  
"Daddy!" whispers the little boy.  
He crouches down to him, holds him a little piece of himself and looks at him in disbelief. His features are a little softer and his eyes are a little brighter ...  
Rey kneels down to them and brushes some of his raven black curls off the boy's face, who looks at him expectantly.  
"Grey!" he almost whispers._

_"Are you crying daddy?" he asks stunned.  
But Ben just snorts and says with a wiping gesture: "Oh nonsense... I just got something in my eye!"  
The little one seems to be satisfied with this and in the next moment is distracted by the tusk, which nudges him and demands his attention.  
Giggling he turns around, chases the animal and tries to grab it by the tail._

_Then Ben looks back at Rey. She seems slightly different to him ... even more beautiful. If that's even possible. But still... her skin seems a little paler, it suits her. Her eyes glow and seem to overflow with tears the next moment.  
"Rey!" he whispers.  
But when he reaches out for her... he starts to cry._

With his heart beating wildly he wakes up next to Rey. She lies cuddled to him with her head on his arm and is still sleeping. It still seems to be the middle of the night.  
For a moment he thinks back to the dream... Dream?

Then he remembers the conversation between Rey and his uncle that he had accidentally overheard.  
 _"...I think I was talking to my child in the dream... to my future child."_  
Those were her words, and he couldn't take them seriously then, but now.  
She saw their son in a dream, talked to him, and now he does too!  
Grey!

Gently, he puts a strand of hair behind her ear. She's all he ever wanted.  
He remembers the strange feeling that gripped him the first time he saw her on Takodana. She was so afraid of him... and now?  
He promised himself he would make her happy but there's something standing in the way.

He'd thought about it before... they'd be bad at running the universe from this base. And she wishes so much they could stay here.  
To top it all off, when the new government is formed on Coruscant... He knows this place makes her sick.  
He's got an idea... but that's not nice.

Carefully he takes his arm out from under her head and sits up.  
Their clothes are still on the floor. After he gives her a little kiss on the temple, he stands up and collects the scattered clothes. He gets dressed and wants to leave the room already, until his gaze is caught by two objects on the nightstand.

Rey wakes up confused. Ben is no longer beside her and while she rubs her eyes she tries to remember a dream. Was she dreaming about Grey? Or about Ben? She doesn't know and doesn't think about it for long, because after a short time Ben comes back in and holds two plates in front of him.

He has procured food. He also has a bottle tucked under his arm.  
She wraps herself in the thin blanket and takes one of the plates from him. Some bread, fruit and meat.

"Oh, my hero! I love you!" she says enthusiastically and gives him a short kiss as he sits down on the bed with her and she starts to eat her meal.  
"I hope so!" he replies.

After a short time she looks up at him with her mouth full. He just smiles. After she has swallowed, she says with red cheeks: "I'm sorry, but I was so hungry!"   
"Oh no! Just eat my girl! I'm glad if I don't have to force you to eat every bite!" he says amused and also gets down on his plate.

The bottle contains Naboo wine, as she soon finds out.  
"Do you think you need more wine to get me into bed?" she asks amused after taking a sip from the bottle and passing it to Ben.  
This one also takes a big sip from it.  
"No, not really... but it can't hurt!" he says with a smile.

After they finish their meal, they put the plates on the floor. Ben sits with his back to the head of the bed and Rey leans against his chest and closes her eyes with satisfaction.  
"What did you actually do with the second bottle of de'ostrian wine?" she asks interested and with a slightly queasy feeling in her stomach.  
"I saved it... for our wedding night!" he says grinning and gives her a light kiss on the tip of the nose.

Rey has to think back to the dream... to Grey? Or Ben?  
Did she see little Grey in the dream again... she thinks she clearly remembers seeing him playing with the tusk... but there was also...  
She thinks she remembers Ben, too. With unknown clothes and a more mature face. And this sign... which looks so similar to the scar on her right arm. Could that be the sign of the Grey Alliance?

In her confusion, she straightens up a bit and looks at him with a furrowed brow.  
What if she saw both Ben and Grey in a dream?  
But that's impossible. Ben had promised her that he couldn't go into her dreams. Or could he...?

"What's wrong with you girl?" he asked with his eyes closed.   
"Are you thinking about the dream... and about Grey?"   
He smiles.  
"You saw him? Y-you were there, in the meadow?" she asks insecurely.  
Finally he opens his eyes and looks at her with friendly melancholy.  
"It would be unfair if you had our son all to yourself...!"

Rey doesn't dare to say anything anymore... They hadn't talked about it after the overheard conversation at Varykino.  
What does he think? What does he think now? She's annoyed that he can hide his spirit from her so well!

Gently he puts his hands to both sides of her face and whispers in a husky voice: "I can't tell you how happy you make me. And I promise that I will love you and our son... and every other child with all my heart! I swear to you, little Rey!"  
She can't hold back her tears anymore, she bends over to him and lets him pull her into a big hug.

"Maybe you can answer me one question..."  
"Ask me what you want!" she answers freely, detaches herself from him and wipes the tears from her face with the back of her hand.  
"What is this lightsaber?" he asks, looking at the bedside table.  
Rey looks past him with big eyes to the two lightsabers she had put on it earlier.   
Almost forgotten...  
"Well, one is mine and the other one is yours... so actually they are both ours...!" she says insecurely.

After he continues to stare at her in silence, she continues.  
"A gift from Luke and your mother."  
Ben doesn't look at her, he just stares at the two swords and follows his thoughts. But Rey can guess what he is thinking about. Luke and his mother have guessed that he would eventually part with Kylo Ren's sword and have sent them this second one...

The two of them hardly slept for the next hours and fell over each other again and again... in all three rooms.  
As soon as the sky turned grey they crept into the kitchen, took some fresh fruit and a fruity juice with them and went deep into the forest with their swords and a blaster.

After some time they reached a clearing that resembled their training ground very much.  
For hours they fought against each other and got a feeling for both swords.  
They had decided that Ben would take the former saber of Luke (Anakin) and Rey that of Leia.

Ben taught her how to stop a lightsaber with the Force when the opponent swings out and how to stop blaster shots in the air. For this purpose he shot against a tree that stood about ten meters away from her. This lesson was very hard for her and after each missed shot she said that she would do better if he shot directly at her.

At some point he put the gun away, stood directly in front of her and took her face in both hands.  
"Rey! I won't do a damn thing and shoot you!" he says in a serious voice and gives her a kiss on the tip of her nose.

After the training they went to the lake and enjoyed themselves in the shimmering cool water. (I leave it to your imagination how they 'enjoyed themselves')

On the way back to the base they run next to each other and he strokes his hand repeatedly against her fingers. He doesn't try to take her by the hand, but he can't stop touching her again and again. After a few times she smiles at his light touches.

**"THERE ARE YOU!!!"** it comes with an angry tone from in front of.  
Both of them stop in horror. Sairah, stands in front of them on the hangar place, with her fists on her hips and an angry face.  
Both think in the same moment:   
_Oops. Gotcha!_

"Do you know how long we've been looking for you?"  
They stand silently and look at her like frightened rabbits before the big bad wolf.  
"I got married yesterday and you didn't even have the kindness to stay until the end of the ceremony?!"

Ben and Rey don't even have to look at each other to know that they can't get out of it now. The only way to do that is to stay calm and let Sairah rant.

"When I arrived earlier, the other servants and officers were running around here like headless chickens. They were completely panicked because they couldn't find you. They went all over the base and they didn't even think to look in your former room.. a clever idea, by the way!" she says to Ben. He nods with thanks.

"Now I came back from my honeymoon especially early to catch you guys playing hooky... Rey! You come with me right now, I have to get you ready for dinner! And you...!" she talks to Ben again.   
"...Your generals are waiting in the conference room with important questions for you... What are you waiting for?"   
Without further ado, Ben heads for the base and Rey joins Sairah.

With a slight smile she stands next to the angry Twi'lek and gives her a kiss on the cheek.  
"Congratulations!" she says appeasingly.  
Sairah can't help but twitch the corners of her mouth... but then yells at her and sends her to her room.  
"Go take a bath! I'll join you later and get you ready for dinner!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for that chapter...
> 
> If 'Fathers' was my favorite chapter... then this is my absolute hate chapter!  
> I hope you still had your fun with it and wish you a nice Friday.
> 
> Best wishes, your Lori ♥


	34. The Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben makes us laugh a little and then the long awaited wedding finally comes to pass.

Sairah was hard to calm down the rest of the day. Only when Rey herself chose an incredibly complicated looking dress and suggested to her to try out some hairstyles for the upcoming wedding her mood got better again.  
She visibly enjoyed tying Rey's hair like a hairdresser's doll over and over again. At some point Rose and Leia joined them and blamed Rey for the fact that their short time out was irresponsible and could have serious consequences later on.

Ben was busy with his generals until dinner and came to their room only shortly before. Finn and Poe sit in front of the table in the living room and play a card game. Ben greets them briefly and then goes into the bedroom where Rey is tied up for the (felt) hundredth time with an elegant hairstyle. For Sairah and his mother he hardly has an eye. He goes directly to Rey, gives her a kiss on the forehead and only then greets his mother.

At dinner this time Ti'es, Luke and Lando sit at the table.   
It is very boisterous again and they laugh a lot. It seems that this time Luke (who later went to the party) and Lando have looked too deeply into the glass. Both look a little slapped out of the laundry that evening. Rey, Sairah and Rose have an unspeakable joy to talk to them again and again in a loud voice and ask them for more detailed information about the Battle of Endor.

Ben and Rey had fallen in love again and again throughout the whole meal, just like Sairah and Ti'es and also Rose and Finn, who obviously had a nice evening at the wedding party.

Towards the end Ben implemented a plan that he had been hatching in his head all day.  
"I have a favor to ask of you." he said cautiously to his mother, who is sitting at the other end of the table again.  
All eyes are on him.

"As you may have heard, it's been decided that the Grey Alliance headquarters will be on Coruscant."  
"Yes, so I've heard." She answers calmly.  
"To keep the senate in view and help elect the new supreme chancellor, Rey and I will have to live on Coruscant."  
Rey looks at him in a slight panic.

"Yes, I thought so too."  
"Unfortunately I know that Rey doesn't like this planet. And I couldn't possibly make her go there."  
This time Leia just nods.  
"A logical alternative would be for me to leave Rey here and fly back and forth between here and the senate myself... but even that would be too much of a strain on her in the long run!"  
The idea of breaking up with Ben over and over again makes Rey sick. She'd rather live with him on that horrible planet.

"It all sounds very immature... but what are you going to do now?" she asks with a slight suspicion in her voice.  
"Well, I had thought that you would offer yourself as a candidate for the post of Supreme Chancellor. We can trust you completely and the systems place a lot of trust in your opinion."  
Rey looks at him in disbelief and wonders if Leia would actually go along with such an idea.

"Ben!" she starts off quietly.  
"I'm not the right person for this job and not all systems trust me... that would be a hell of a lot of work and you and Rey have so much groundwork already..."  
"That's right, the systems we've traveled through trust us but we only trust you. We would still have to travel a lot... but we'd be together and..."  
Rey can sense that he's about to get to the heart of his plan. All eyes are still upon him and Leia is preparing for what's to come.  
"... if Rey is unhappy... or if we are apart, I'm afraid there will be no grandchildren!"

Rey thinks he's mistaken for a moment.  
Leia raises an eyebrow and waits to see if he meant it.  
The others' eyes are wide open. Luke rolls his eyes and supports his head in one hand.  
"Excuse me?!" Leia asks with a stunned expression.

Rey decides to keep silent for now and let things run their course.  
"You got that right... if you don't run for Chancellor, we'll have trouble getting you grandchildren."  
 _He really means it..._ Rey is screaming on the inside.  
For a while everyone stays silent and waits for Leia to react.

Then she seems to have decided, stands up and answers in an amused voice: "You're a born politician!... Well, I'll stand for election... But in return I demand at least two small grandchildren and visitation rights at all times!"  
"Deal!" Ben replies sassy.  
„... This could have come from your father."  
She wishes them all a pleasant evening and leaves the auditorium.

"That was a really bold move... I will never have to negotiate with you." says Poe.  
Rey looks at him in disbelief.  
"Say, did you just blackmail your mother with grandchildren?!" she asks angrily.  
"It worked, didn't it?" he replies with a cheeky grin.  
She leans forward to him, pulls his shirt closer to her... and gives him a good slap on the back of the head. 

"Ouch!" he protests briefly.  
"Never do that again!" she demands angrily and says goodbye, too.  
After she leaves, everyone looks at her. Luke says with a clear mischief in his voice: "Didn't you see that coming, kid?"

The two weeks until the wedding passed by in a flash and then the big day is already here.  
Rey sits on Chandrila in her chambers in front of a mirrored dresser and watches how Sairah puts her hair up. In front of her lies a silver tiara set with grey and purple gems.

She is not nervous yet, but she feels a slight restlessness rising within her. In less than an hour she stands beside Ben and is crowned queen.  
After all that has happened so far, she can hardly believe that only half a year ago she was still collecting junk on Jakku and wondered if she would do this for the rest of her life. And now she sits here and prepares to step before the altar with her soul mate and to rule an entire galaxy together with him.

Again and again she pinches her hand briefly to test if she's not dreaming all this after all and every moment she wakes up from a particularly intense dream and lies in her little bed on Jakku again.  
But she is really here... And in this moment Sairah puts the tiara on her head.

When she is finished, she stands in front of the mirror and looks at herself for a while.  
Her eyes are really shining and she has to pull herself together not to cry immediately. Leia comes to them. She can't hold herself back and starts to cry immediately.

"My child! You're really a queen now. I'm so proud of you!" her voice breaks at the last words. After a few breaths she looks up at her again and says: "And always remember! Always keep your head up and... when the priest speaks... listen to him... you can't look at each other in love all the time and block out the whole world around you."  
Rey has to laugh a minute... that's been happening to her and Ben a lot lately and they've missed a few conversations.

"Ready?" asks Sairah and nods to her.  
Rey takes a deep breath.   
Yes, she is ready.  
All the way to the big hall where the ceremony takes place she is accompanied by Sairah and Leia. At every step they offer their support, almost as if she was made of porcelain and would shatter at any moment.

The hall is decorated with colourful flowers and there is a long red carpet on the floor leading to a platform. There he stands and waits for her.  
As soon as he sees her he smiles and watches every step she takes. Every step that brings her closer to him.  
She is already caught by his gaze and doesn't notice how the crowd around her starts to murmur. Like a figure of light she steps towards him.

Now she knows... every path she has taken so far... every adventure she's passed and every decision she's made has only led her to this point. To him!  
Arriving at him, he gives her his hand, which she accepts joyfully.

As Leia advised her, she tries to concentrate on the words of the priest and follows his instructions.  
Until he declares them husband and wife shortly before the end of the ceremony and tells them that they may kiss each other now, they are caught up in each other again and don't get anything around each other.

After a longer embarrassing silence, they approach and give each other the expected kiss all by themselves. The whole hall bursts into cheers. And only in this moment do they realize again where they are here. Obviously they have missed a part and after they both let their eyes wander over the crowd, they look at each other with embarrassed laughter.

Shortly afterwards Luke and Leia join them.  
As a symbol of their power they hand them their lightsabers. Leia explains in a short speech that the Grey Alliance stands for what the Jedi and the old Republic should have stood for. Balance. She puts the responsibility in their hands to preserve that balance in the future. She declares them king and queen of the Grey Alliance and the official protectors of Gylaxy.

When the twins step aside and Ben grabs the hand of his wife, this indefinable noise is heard again, which was already clearly audible on Naboo. Like thousands of beautiful bells.   
But even then it was not only to be heard on Naboo. In the whole galaxy this pleasant sound could be heard. And also this time every living being on every planet can hear this ringing.

Ben and Rey also hear it and close their eyes for a moment. Then they look at each other again and know exactly that they are responsible.  
They are the dual sound of power and have initiated the harmony of the universe.

Rey looks briefly at Luke, who smiles at them knowingly. She also sees her friends. Finn, who nods with Rose in his arms. Poe, Chewy, Lando and BB8, Sairah and her husband Ti'es. Prince Leados and his father. The Princess of De'ostres. And Apaila of Naboo. Awkwardly Jar Jar Bings waves to them and bumps his hand against the head of the man behind him.

And at the far end of the corridor, she sees several pale figures. She glances briefly at Ben, who can apparently recognize them.  
She has not been allowed to meet any of them, but she knows who they all are.  
The old Jedi masters from the old Republic. And there are two figures on the side that Rey can recognize with little effort. Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Without his mask, without the injuries to his face. Rey believes for a short moment blue butterflies to see Padme and Anakin fluttering. Joyfully the spirits smile at the two newlyweds and know that their task is done.

There was much celebration that day, in all corners of the universe people cheered the young royal couple to bring them balance, peace and freedom.  
Leia was elected supreme chancellor and as promised, Rey was able to happily announce after only a few months that she was expecting a child. When she told Ben, he had cried when he put his ear to her belly and promised to always love him, to protect him and never leave him alone.

He became a beautiful little boy with black hair like his father and eyes as beautiful as his mother's. Together they decided to name him Han Solo. But they always called him Grey. And some years later they spent a few nice weeks on Naboo and Rey felt a strange connection to the past spirits whenever she played with her beloved son on the Shaak pasture.

I could tell you now that when little Gray was only 5 years old, they had a second child, that it was a girl called Amethys Solo.

I could also tell you that Sairah later set out to tell the slavers in the universe to fight. So she really became a real freedom fighter.

I could also tell that Ben and Rey decided to adopt a little power-sensitive slave girl that Sairah brought back from one of her liberation actions. A cute little redheaded girl named Darsh who had lost her parents very early and was only one year older than her daughter Amethys.  
I could tell you all that but this... is another story.

The end. ... well almost...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... we're almost at the end of that.  
> I hope you've enjoyed it so far...  
> After tomorrow's chapter, I'll tell you about another project that will follow soon... but first, I'm gonna take a little break... to write another one.
> 
> All my love! Stay well!
> 
> Yours, Lori ❤


	35. A small bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little epilogue.

Rey must be giggling...  
"Can you explain to me what you're doing, mister?"  
Ben has to giggle for a second too.  
"What the hell, I'm welcoming my beloved wife and mother of my children." He replies and continues.  
"That's all very well... but why do you have to unbutton my shirt?"

Rey had just taken a little nap until just now, after she had persuaded Grey and Amethys to take a little nap in their rooms as well.

Today they were especially excited, they probably guessed that their father was on his way back from Coruscant.  
And said father, her husband had immediately set off to her and wanted to fill her, well-deserved, short break with his desires... simply insatiable this man!

"Are the children still sleeping?" he asks in a rough voice as he wants to push her shirt off her shoulders.  
"Still!" she replies simply.  
He kisses her gently from her belly, between her breasts, up her collarbone, neck and jaw.  
Before he kisses her mouth, he whispers a real mood killer very softly: "What do you think about making another child?"

Rey opens her eyes immediately and looks at him with a searching look.  
He looks at her with that silly grin that gets her every time they argue.  
"Are you kidding me right now?" she asks incredulously.  
"No! Why? I like it when you're pregnant!" he says lovingly and strokes a strand of hair from her face.

Only men can say such bullshit. Rey detested every moment of her pregnancy. Meanwhile, she mutated into a real monster. Her mood swings changed from highly happy, to depressed and endlessly belligerent to an unbelievable horniness. None of this would have been so bad if she hadn't gone through these moods within 5 minutes. Especially Ben had to suffer from her hormones... why she can't understand at all why he wants her to get pregnant again.

And then the births...  
At Grey's birth she had experienced what it felt like to push a watermelon through the eye of a needle... 

Spoiler alert! She was the eye of the needle!

As soon as Amethy's birth approached, she planned to make him feel the same pain through the force bond that she had to go through.

But this cowardly bastard was incredibly lucky and was unfortunately not on the same planet at that time. She had not been able to concentrate enough to reach him on Coruscant.  
And unfortunately Sairah had not wanted to consider her request to wait with the birth until Ben finally arrived and could share her indescribable _joy_.  
Unfortunately Amethys was already a real daddy's child at her birth and was born after painful 15 hours and that about one hour before his return... little traitor!

Rey sits up and tries to push his hands off himself. She loves to have sex with him... again and again... but she's never been so happy about the hormone implant in her arm, like now.   
As it turns out, at the beginning of their relationship, Ben doesn't understand the first thing about birth control. Fortunately, she had Sairah and Rose.  
She wouldn't get pregnant, but somehow she had to make him understand that a third child was out of the question.

"Ben!" she begins cautiously.  
"I love you and our children! You are everything I have ever dreamed of... but..."  
Thoughtfully she bites her lower lip. What's the best way to get him to change his mind without provoking a fight?  
"Don't you think we have enough to do with our little power packs already?" she asks cautiously.

But I don't think he'll be so easily dissuaded from his crazy idea. He puts an arm around her waist and moves her closer to him.  
As soon as he puts his lip on hers, he silences any contradiction. And that's it. When he kisses her, he can make her forget everything around her.

But in the next moment, Rey returns to reality, pushes him away from her, buttons up again and straightens up a bit before Grey and Amethys storm into the room.

Giggling joyfully, they jump on the bed and scream in disarray.  
A: "Daddy! You're back!"  
G: "Daddy! How was the trip?"  
A, "Did you miss us?"  
G: Did you bring us anything?  
A, "How's Gran Gran?"  
G, "Did you bring Gran?"  
A: "Have you seen Uncle Chewy?"  
G. "Have you seen Uncle Finn?"  
A: "Have you brought Aunt Rosi?"  
And many more.

Rey can only smile at this onslaught.  
It's been 10 years since their wedding.  
She lives with these two force-using bullies and her husband mainly on base. They teach them to control the force rationally without putting herself or others in danger.  
Grey, at 9 years old, is already extremely talented in the use of the force. And even if Amethys with her 4 years is not yet on the same level as Grey was at her age, she does not lack persistence. She tries to be as good as her big brother and with that ... and with her impetuous nature, she gets herself into smaller trouble, which Grey always gets her out of.

"Well, well, well, well," Ben interrupts the babbling of his children.  
"Not both of them at once! Have you been good?" And with those words, he pulls them to him and gives each one a little kiss on the forehead.  
Amethys crawls to her mother and hangs by her neck while Grey falls cross-legged onto the bed.

"Mommy taught me to make rocks float!" Amethys exclaims enthusiastically.  
"And I rode all alone on Jasha to the village!" tells Grey with no less enthusiasm.  
Ben looks briefly at Rey and asks her in his mind: _Alone?_  
But Rey only shakes hem head wordlessly. Of course she sent one of the gamekeepers after him.

"I see you've had your fun while your father struggled with boring meetings and diplomatic pranks." he says, pretending to be exhausted.  
Little Grey just giggles and Amethys jumps from her mother to her father, strokes his hair lovingly and in a childish tone goes: "Ai ai ai!"  
Rey has to refrain from a loud laugh and bites her lower lip.

They live mainly on the base, but either Ben or Rey have to go on diplomatic trips again and again. They hardly ever leave their children alone and only rarely do they accompany their parents to larger state receptions.  
But every time their attention is drawn to Coruscant, Ben makes his way there alone.  
Rey still detests this place and can't stand a second on this crowded ugly city planet.

"Say, you two... what do you think about having another sibling?" Ben suddenly asks into the giggles.

Rey looks at him startled.   
_He's not really doing that now?!_  
"I don't know daddy!" Grey gives a skeptical look. Fortunately, Rey can always count on her little adventurer.  
"I want another sister!" returns Amethys joyfully.  
"Well, two to two..." Rey says calmly and with pursed lips.

But before she can go on, the little com that Ben had put in his jacket pocket clicks.  
Slightly annoyed he takes it out and curses himself for a moment that he hadn't turned it off already.

"Sir! We have cleared the Twilight for landing." Makes a mechanical voice sound.  
"sairah!" scream grey and amethys in choir, jump up and run out.  
"All right, we'll be right there!" Ben says a quick word into the com and dumps it back in his pocket.

As soon as they both get up, Rey gives him a good pat on the back of the head.  
"Ouch!" he protests. "What was that for?"  
"You know exactly what that was for!" she just replies and leaves the room.  
By gods, he loves his family like crazy!  
He can't help but stare after her with that silly grin on his face.

In front of the hangar a medium-sized cargo ship lands on which the symbol of the Grey Alliance is depicted. The symbol has the shape of the small pale scar that Rey got years ago when he fought against the bodyguards of Snoke. Ben found it to be a fitting symbol for their bond.

As soon as the ramp opens and Sairah can be seen, the children rush towards her and let the former maid take them in her arms.  
They babble joyfull and tell Sairah happily what happened here while she was away.

One year ago Sairah decided to fight the remaining slavers.  
Slavery has been banned in the whole galaxy, but there are still some unteachable idiots who can't stop.  
Together with Ti'es and some troops of the Grey Alliance she set out to free slaves and bring them back home.

All those who have no home anymore, she brings to the base and the now bigger village of Tahe Lou.  
Behind her some of the freed slaves get out and look around unsettled.  
They gather at one point and are told by one of the soldiers to wait here until the transport to the village is prepared.

Amethys notices a girl among them. She has very pale skin and bright red hair.  
She stares spellbound at the girl, who must be about her age.  
Unnoticed she approaches her. She has shimmering green eyes, with which she stares nervously from one side to the other and scans her surroundings exactly.

"Hello!" says the little princess with a benevolent smile.  
The red-haired girl looks at her with big eyes and after a while she answers back with a shy "Hallo!".  
"I am Amethys! What's your name?"  
"Darsh!" she says shyly.  
"Where are your mum and dad; Darsh?" she asks openly.  
She looks down sadly and has to hold her sniffle.  
"I don't know! The nice blue lady said they've long since gone to a better place, where I can't go."

Even though she's only 4 years old, Amethy's guessed what that could mean.  
"Don't you have a grandma or something?" she keeps asking.  
Darsh just shakes her head and drops a few tears on the floor.  
The princess looks at her for a moment, then walks towards her and puts a hand on her shoulder.  
"It doesn't matter! Then you'll be my sister from now on!"  
Darsh cannot quite believe her ears. Did she just say _sister_?  
When she looks up, she can't find a shred of dishonesty in the face of the happily smiling Amethys.

She blinks a few tears away as Amethys grabs her hand and pulls her away.  
Arriving at Ben, Rey, Sairah and Grey, who are talking about the liberation, she calls out with a lukewarm voice.  
"This is Darsh...! Grey! She is our sister now!"

Everyone is looking at the two girls. Grey looks at them searchingly for a moment, but then seems to decide that he likes the red-haired girl with the shimmering green eyes.  
"Hello Darsh! I am Grey! I guess I'm your brother now!" he says boldly.  
"Come, we'll show you our Varactyls! You'll love them." Amethys warbles excitedly.

As soon as the children laugh and run away, the three adults stare at them with their mouths wide open.

"Say! What just happened there?" Ben asks insecurely.  
"It seems that our daughter has just adopted a strange girl." Rey returns dry.

"Well, this is kind of a weird coincidence but... I wanted to talk to you guys about that little one anyway!"  
Ben and Rey (who are still in shock) now look at her questioningly.  
"The little one doesn't have any parents or relatives anymore and she is..."  
"...force-sensitive!" the two complete her sentence in the choir.  
"Yes, exactly. And I wanted to ask you if you could look after her for a while until I find a decent place for her."  
Ben and Rey take a quick look at each other. She can see that Ben is still in some kind of shock and that his thinking is still not working as fast as before.

"I don't think that should be a problem!" Rey finally says.  
"Oh, thank you so much." Sairah warbles and goes back to the group of freed slaves.

"What just happened...? I mean, how could this just happen?" Ben asks into the silence.  
"I don't know what you mean." Answers Rey in an innocent voice.  
"Why does our daughter come up with the idea of declaring a complete stranger as her sister?" he asks with a slight annoyance in tone.  
Rey has to stop giggling and puts her arms around his neck.  
"I suppose you gave her the idea..."  
"Why me?" he asks irritated.  
"Who dragged our children into our discussion about another child, my dear?!"  
She cooed happily.  
"You brought this on yourself! But after all, your wish to have a third child... has just been fulfilled." she says with a grin and gives him a tender kiss.

Darsh stayed with them from then on. She was always around Amethys and as time went by they grew together like real sisters. From then on, Grey vowed to protect his two little sisters forever.  
After some time Ben and especially Rey learned to love little Darsh like their own child and adopted her officially as their daughter.  
The little princess Darsh Solo.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dears.  
> Now we really have come to the end.  
> I'm glad you've followed this story for so long.
> 
> This is the end of a project that I had been working on since January and was able to finish it in time for Star Wars Day in May. 
> 
> In the not too distant future, I will post a Reylo-AU in the Modern Setting and another story, which starts something like a songfic, is already in the works...
> 
> Have a nice day and may the Force be with you!
> 
> Your Lori ❤️


End file.
